Volturi Outpost 23: Forks
by LauralHilll
Summary: Bella lives in Forks quietly with her dad and her friends Rachel, Becky and Jake. Quietly, until it's Wolves vs. vamps when the Volturi advance guard- Edward Masen & Jasper Whitlock- arrive to colonize Western WA. Chap 36: Jasper's new car.
1. Chapter 1

__**Volturi Outpost 23: Forks**__

__**_This differs from canon on four major points: first, Edward never came back to Carlisle; Bella stayed with Charlie after the divorce; Alice hasn't yet met Jasper, and the Volturi aren't as impotent._**__

__**_Oh, and also no Emily. "Five! Five major points!"  
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__**_Chapter 1_**__

Edward Masen was driving his Aston Martin out of Seattle at a speed that even Jasper Whitlock found too fast. He didn't say anything, which Edward appreciated, even though with Edward around, it didn't matter what you didn't say.

But after over half a century, Jasper had a talent for suppressing his surface thoughts. All he let out was _Gotta love that built-in radar detector_ before he started singing along to the CD playing in the car, _The '59 Sound._ (Jasper gravitated towards anything remotely hinting at the 1950s, be it a car or a song.) Edward had to admit the Gaslight Anthem was decent - a bunch of frat boys who liked Springsteen and could play guitar, but still enjoyable.

They had agreed that the main office should be in the city, but Forks was so very enticing. In vampire terms the distance between Forks and Seattle was negligible - if there did happen to be any incidents over there, the outpost would have problems. And of course, Forks had almost no sunshine; only 35 days with sun a year, even fewer than Seattle, which had about 100. Besides, Edward preferred the wilderness because of his telepathy. Quiet was nice.

(Jasper's empathy meant he usually didn't like cities either, unless something like their local sporting team doing well was going on.)

A scuffle with their last meal had broken Jasper's cell, so he was searching the Forks White Pages on Edward's iPhone. A name that scrolled by almost instantly made them both start.

"Carlisle Cullen? Wasn't he your sire?"

CULLEN, DR CARLISLE

"Yes," replied Edward in a low tone.

"Can't believe the humans think he's a doctor," laughed Jasper. _What a great way to feed!_

Edward rolled his eyes; had Jasper never listen to one of Aro's laments? Aro certainly never kept his thoughts to himself. "Jasper? He really _is_ a doctor. We met when he was ministering flu patients in 1917. My mother and I died in his care. Well, not that I died properly, you know."

_1917! I forget how young Edward is sometimes. _"Oh yeah. So he's a real doctor. Dayamn." _All that blood, all the time, but never a slip?_

"Never. He's never even tasted human blood. Well, not before he turned me," amended Edward. "Then, his mate. And if he's ever turned anyone else. I guarantee you that's all."

_That's amazing!_ There was envy along with the unbelief. For Jasper felt the terror every time he killed, and he didn't like it much. Edward could relate. He had, a few times, tried going "vegetarian", but animal blood was insufficient for quenching the thirst. In retrospect, he was surprised he even lasted those ten years with Carlisle. He still made sure to only kill other monsters, never joining in with the Volturi's feasts, and Jasper always hunted with him. But, even though the humans they kill barely deserved the label, they did still fear dying.

The boys were quiet as they sped on US-12 to US-101. Jasper still singing along to his CD, except when they saw a sign for "HUMPTULIPS," which started him snorting like a schoolboy. Edward ignored him and said, "We should stop and change."

Jasper nodded. "Get into character." In Seattle they wore black Armani suits with black ties - Jasper thought they looked like Feds, but Edward knew they looked like mobsters. Either way, the outfits would call too much attention in Forks. So they pulled over and changed, too fast for humans to see, into thick, high-waisted, unflattering jeans, and flannel shirts, Edward in a red and Jasper a blue, with sheepskin jackets over that. It wasn't really quite that cold, being September, but in Forks no one would look at them twice. At least, not because of their clothing.

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For the tenth time in as many days, Bella thought of something to call Rachel Black about. And for the tenth time, she remembered that Rachel was in Spokane and unable to rush over to gossip with her. She was more used to not being able to see Becky, who had gone on a class trip to Hawaii last spring break, fallen in love with a surfer, and left as soon as she graduated high school.

If she couldn't see the twins, she could see Jake. She stopped pretending to find him as annoying as his sisters did, but she still wasn't as close to him. _Well, he's a boy. You don't gossip with boys about boys and makeup and hair and clothes and celebrities. Does he even care about anything besides fixing up old cars?  
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So after school, she called her Dad, to let him know "the truck's making that weird noise again," and so she was taking it to Jake to see if he could fix it. She called the Black's home number afterward to tell Billy the same thing.

Jake greeted her happily - he was already five inches taller than her, and easily swung her in a circle. Quil and Embry were a bit more subdued, just shaking her hand. She'd seen them around of course, but for the first time she noticed just how freakin' _hot_ the three Quileute boys were. _Tall, dark and sort of beautiful. Is it wrong to feel that way about fifteen-year-olds?_ True, Bella wasn't quite seventeen yet, but people could get really weird if you dated someone younger. She remembered a few years back, when a freshman girl was dating an eighth-grader - and they'd even been born in the same year, just that he'd missed the cutoff date - how nasty the gossip had gotten.

Bella found a snack while the boys checked the truck out. With the girls gone, there was no one to buy fruit, so she settled for a small bowl of potato chips and sat down across from Billy, on the couch.

"How's Rachel liking school?"

Billy shrugged. "You talk to her more than I do. Losing her mom... she doesn't talk to me much."

"What about Becky?"

He smiled at her name. "Becky is in love with Dave - and Maui - and couldn't be happier."

They talked a little more about Becky, who was trying for a baby. Bella couldn't imagine Becky as a mom. _She's so young, hard enough picturing her with a husband..._

Quil ran inside. "Hey Bella, I think Jake's got the truck fixed."

Bella nodded to Billy and went out. Indeed, the noise was gone.

"You, uh, you wanna stay for dinner?" asked Jake, shy once their excuse was gone.

Bella shrugged, and they went inside; Quil and Embry took off. Dinner was just frozen hamburgers warmed up on the stove. They both talked about how school was going so far, new teachers and everything. No new classmates, of course.

Afterwards as Bella and Jake washed the dishes together, Bella asked, "What's going on with Embry?" She noticed Jake and Quil giving funny looks when they thought Embry wasn't aware.

"Oh, um... Did I tell you about Sam?"

"Don't think so... Leah's boyfriend?"

He nodded. "He kinda started this gang, and I'm worried Embry wants to join."

_A gang in La Push?_ "What kind of gang?"

"I don't know, really. He and Paul and Jared all shaved their heads and hang out together - I mean, I don't think it's bad, Dad tries to act like it's just some kinda tribal initiation thing, but everyone is so _cold_ now. Paul used to be a good friend of mine and now I barely see him," complained Jake. "And Embry, you know, he doesn't have a dad, so - "

"So he wants to join?"

He nodded. "I think they already told him no way, but they seem like they want me and Quil real bad. It's just creepy, the way Sam looks at us."

"How long has this been going on?"

"Since the summer. Well, Jared and Paul, Sam shaved his head almost a year ago, I think."

Bella only knew Sam through Leah, and only knew Leah through the Black twins. She never seemed to like Bella, but often used to hang out with the twins before falling for Sam her eighth-grade year. She remembered that Sam used to have hair to rival Leah's then. After they got together, she barely saw them anymore, but she had heard, through the twins all last year, about the storminess of their relationship. He would sneak out most nights and didn't tell her where, although he promised it was just "tribal shit," not another woman. The three girls intimidated every Quileute girl they knew, and even a few Forks High girls, to confirm he wasn't cheating. Bella now repeated this to Jake, who nodded.

"Yeah, and now Paul and Jared've joined in. Ha, maybe they all decided to be gay together," he joked, except without a smile touching his eyes. He was clearly worried, but had no idea what to do.

"Is Billy concerned at all?"

"Not a bit. He just chuckles when I mention it, and says be patient. Like he _wants_ me to join the gang!"

She squeezed his hand. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to."

He suddenly hugged her, holding her close to him. "I hope so," he whispered, then pushed her away and ran into his room.

Bella took that as her cue, said bye to Billy, and drove home.

_**author's note: It used to be slightly different but I decided I liked this as the first chapter instead.  
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	2. Chapter 2

**_Chapter 2_**

The expensive-looking fancy British car in the driveway of the old Lawson place – and the missing FOR SALE sign – surprised Bella as she turned into her driveway. Inside, Charlie sat on the couch, watching a football game.

"How was dinner at the Blacks?" he asked, turning down the volume.

"It was fine... did the Lawson place get sold?"

Charlie harrumphed. "'Spose so. Didn't get a look at the new owners yet."

"You mean you don't know?" Bella was amazed; as police chief, Charlie Swan knew everything that happened in Forks, usually before it happened. Charlie responded by turning the volume back up.

"Dad! God!" exclaimed Bella, and went outside. She didn't go all the way to the Lawson property line – she supposed she'd have to call it something else, as soon as she found out – but close enough to see all the shades were drawn. She sighed and went back inside, rummaging in the kitchen for something. "Shoulda stayed home and cooked," she muttered, and finally just grabbed today's paper.

"Going to say hi to the new neighbors," called Bella as she slammed the door.

Charlie yelped and almost immediately ran out beside her. "Now I can't have people thinking I'm not neighborly," he grumped. Bella smirked, held his hand in her free one as they walked two houses down and across the street, and rang the doorbell.

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The smell had been growing and growing before the doorbell rang. Edward stopped breathing so he could concentrate all of his being on not jumping up and draining the person.

Jasper jumped and cursed when bell rang. "Jesus H. Christ, thanks for the warning, telepath," he complained.

"Sorry," said Edward. "It's a neighbor, he smells really good; I don't want to kill anyone, you should get the door." Especially since the man's thoughts were muddled to the point that Edward suspected he was retarded; killing someone like that would not be easily covered up.

"Small town nosiness. Do you need to hide in the basement, or can you sit here and get our internet working?" Jasper asked, pointing to their laptops.

He took one tiny breath to say, "I think – I think I'll be ok, I just won't breathe," then turned his attention to the computers. Jasper grunted his assent, put in some brown colored contacts, and then opened the door.

A teenage girl with a newspaper and her father stood on the porch. "Hello," said the man. "I'm Charlie Swan, this here's my daughter Bella. You are?"

"Jasper Whitlock sir, that's Edward Masen over there."

"Hello," wheezed Edward. He was a bit in shock that there were two people there, but quickly reviewing the past few minutes, he realized he had in fact heard _two_ heartbeats and sets of footsteps. He didn't inhale to verify, but he suspected the girl was the one who smelled oh-so-divine. And he couldn't hear her thoughts! Perhaps that meant her father wasn't retarded, but it was a genetic quirk.

Charlie Swan was the Forks police chief, and he privately thought that the two of them were queer. Edward tried not to chuckle.

"Nice to meet you," burbled the girl. "I thought you guys might like a copy of the paper, see what it's like here? Did you two just move in today?"

"That's right," said Jasper. He hadn't made a move to shake their hands, which was probably for the best. Jasper wasn't hungry, and in fact didn't seem to find Bella as delectable as Edward was, but no need to take chances. They only touched humans before killing them, as a matter of course. "We were living in Montreal for a while, but a relative of mine died and it just finally got around to finding my address last month. International customs and all that red tape BS."

"Well, you better behave," said Charlie, flashing his badge. "I'll see you boys around. Have a good evening."

"You too sir, g'night."

"Nice to meet you," said Bella, smiling at Jasper, and trying to catch a glance at Edward. He wasn't wearing contacts, so he avoided her eyes, and she gave up and left. Once the door was closed, Edward resumed breathing normally.

"Oh hellfire," he muttered. "It's her. She smells - O God - so good. And, would you believe, I can't see her mind at all."

Jasper perked up. "Not a bit?" _His singer is undetectable to him?_

"Ugh, a singer down the road, that's all I need." At least the internet was working.

"You gonna call on your sire at all?"

"Hmmm, yeah, probably at his office. Want to join me?"

Jasper shuddered. "I really ought to stay away from bleeding people."

"Don't you want to ask him about his diet?"

"Sure, but why not invite him over."

Edward nodded and pulled out his cell, punched in the number listed for Dr. Cullen.

"This is Carlisle," said the once-familiar voice.

"Hello there, it's Edward. Masen," he added unnecessarily.

"Edward? How – how did you – are you _here_?"

"Yes, I've moved to Forks. You should come by." He rattled off his address. "Just near the Swans."

"Well. I'm – flabbergasted, really. I'll be there in a bit."

Edward hung up the phone. "He'll be here in-"

"I heard." Jasper removed the contacts.

And indeed, it wasn't long at all before the doorbell rang again. "Come in!"

Carlisle entered. He looked the same as ever, naturally. Tall, blond and attractive. And his eyes were still golden. Jasper fixated on them. _Is that what happens when you feed on animals? _Edward looked at him and nodded. _I'll be hornswaggled._

He embraced Edward and squeezed him. "It's been so long, Edward." He then looked over him. _His eyes. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised._ "What have you been doing with yourself?"

"Jasper and I we work with the Volturi. Aro sends his best, he misses you dearly."

_The Volturi? But..._ "Did - they send you here?"

Edward nodded. "We're establishing another outpost in Seattle. Well, here, really, but the address will be Seattle. We just finished setting one up in Montreal."

"So you – how long have you been working for them?"

"We met up in the '30s; when I explained what I was doing to Demetri, he said they could use me. I got Jasper to work for them, after they eliminated a some newborn armies. He's an empath, feeling and projecting."

Jasper held his hand out to Carlisle. "Jasper Whitlock sir, of Texas and the Confederacy. Pleasure to meet you."

Carlisle shook his hand. "Likewise. Well. I'm glad Edward has such an agreeable companion. I suppose neither of you are mated?" The boys shook their heads. _Too bad. I wonder if he would have liked Rosalie. _An image of a beautiful blond vampire appeared in his head, but she was with her mate, a large bear of a fellow called Emmett.

"Don't try to set me up, Carlisle," he laughed. "I do just fine for myself." Then the image of three more beautiful blonde women appeared. The Denali sisters. They all had golden eyes too. "Denali National Park? Maybe after we get a little more established, Jasper and I can pay a call on the three sisters there."

"Women?" Jasper asked, grinning. "Sounds peachy."

"I would actually like to start hunting with you, Carlisle. I assume you won't have us killing in my normal manner here?"

"I would prefer it, but I suppose if you can keep to the – the monsters, I can't object too much," Carlisle said.

Edward shrugged. "I'll hunt with you as much as I can, I doubt there are that many evildoers in Forks. Jasper?"

"Same here. I only hunt with Edward anyhoo."

Carlisle smiled. "That's wonderful. Esme was so glad to hear news of you, Edward. And you'll enjoy meeting Rose and Emmett, I'm sure. All of you. I can't wait till we can all go hunting together. Tomorrow night?" They nodded, and Carlisle headed for the door. "So good to see you again," he says one more time before leaving.

"So that there's your sire," mused Jasper. "Got to say I like him better'n mine."

"Wouldn't Maria be a dam, not a sire?"

"Call'er what you wanna call'er, she was a right bitch." He spat for emphasis, and his thoughts went to that dark murky hateful lusty place that they went whenever he thought of her. The Volturi had killed her just before he joined them, but his emotions hadn't really settled. They never would if he couldn't forgive her, and he had trouble doing that with her gone. Edward didn't understand that at all, but he didn't bring it up this time.

"Anyway, it should be fun to hunt with Carlisle. It always used to be," Edward said to distract Jasper.

"How does that work, anyway? Animals aren't stupid like humans, they hate us."

"That's part of the challenge," grinned Edward. "I mean, we can always outrun them, but tracking them for hours really is more fun. And their thoughts won't bother us when we drink."

"That part will be nice," admitted Jasper. "Wish we were doing it tonight. What should we do tonight?"

"I haven't scented any vampire traces at all besides Carlisle and his three covenmates, but we should be sure. Do a perimeter. I'll go north, you go south?"

Jasper nodded. "How far?"

He pictured Washington. "Um, you go to the border, or close, and I'll go to Vancouver and back."

"May as well get started now." And he was off.

Edward went straight north, all the way to Vancouver. Of course there were vampires there, but that was ok. Canada really didn't count, so he came back via the San Juan Islands, then back and forth over the Olympic Peninsula. It was so sparse, definitely surperior for the needs of a "vegetarian" like Carlisle, but the I-5 corridor would be good for them and the other Volturi. There had been no vampires from Seattle to Forks, so he didn't worry. Instead he more or less ran back and forth from 101 to I-5 north, with swims in-between.

Finally he was nearing Forks again, when an odd smell caught his attention. Near the beach. Like a dog, but like wet nasty dog, the way they smelled like when he'd been human, not like now. Disgusting. Not human.

Werewolf?

Impossible. There were no werewolves in North America. And almost none in Eurasia.

Still...

He called Carlisle. "I realize this is going to sound like a stupid question, but are there – werewolves in Forks?"

"I wouldn't call them werewolves, Edward. More like shape-shifters."

He stopped running for the first time in seven hours. Stopped dead cold. "Are you fucking serious, Carlisle?"

"Er, yes. The local Indians have a birthright that allows them to shift into wolf form. I met them shortly after you left, and -"

"Carlisle!" he barked. "Why the hell didn't you mention this?"

"Well, we didn't really chat that long, Edward. But since you asked, I met them in the 30s and signed a treaty with the tribal elders that we would stay out of their lands and not bite any humans, and they in return wouldn't fight against us."

Edward sighed. "That isn't exactly going to work for the Volturi."

"I didn't think any had survived since then," said Carlisle.

"Either they did, or these are new ones. That has to be what I scented." Noting where he was, it was indeed tribal lands. "Shit. Caius will not be happy about this. Tell me everything you know."

So he did: the wolves were fast and strong enough to kill vampires, at least when they worked as a pack. They also healed with extraordinary rapidity, and retained some of these powers even in their human forms.

"Caius isn't going to like this," groaned Edward as he hung up.

When Jasper came back, he agreed. _Caius is gonna make us kill them all. _"How many you reckon there are?"

Edward thought. "It's hard to tell. That nasty wet-dog smell -gah. Hard to distinguish distinct ones. But at least two. Maybe four."

"That really oughtta be a piece a cake, then. As long as we don't fight fair. Two against one."

"They work as a pack! We're gonna need help, Jazz."

"Yer a telepath and I can calm them so they don't want to fight. Piece of cake," he repeated.

Edward sighed. "I'll make the call."


	3. Interlude

_**Volturi Outpost 23: Forks**_

_Interlude: Five years ago_

Bella hated plane rides for many reasons, but mostly because they took her away from her friends and Daddy. Her mother loved plane rides, probably because they took her away from her own life. The summer was ending now, and she would go back to school, and she wouldn't see her mother after those last seven hours. (At JFK, Renee took her jet to Boston, and Bella took hers to Seattle.)

Really, it hadn't been that bad spending the summer in Croatia. Bella had been worried about the war at first, but the coast was tranquil and peaceful and beautiful. They saw Diocletian's palace and spent every day at a different beach.

And two nights ago, their last night before leaving, Bella saw her first vampire.

Billy Black had told his kids and Bella stories of the Cold Ones, but Bella really did think they were merely stories till meeting Demetri.

They were walking on the beach just after sunset when Renee noticed him staring. She assumed he was staring at her, and approached him. He was amazingly attractive- tall, dark and handsome - and Renee was quite good at flirting. Much to her chagrin, he was curt and dismissive - and kept staring at her daughter.

"She's only twelve, you know," huffed Renee.

"I only want to talk with her," he promised. Renee told him where to get off, but Bella was cornered about an hour later coming out of the bathroom alone. He didn't have a Croatian accent – she'd picked up the sound over the summer, sort of a cross between Russian and Italian – and they walked alone along the beach in the moonlight. It was a little romantic, except that when his ice-cold hand brushed her shoulder, Bella was convinced that she was going to die.

"Please don't kill me," she whispered

Demetri was taken aback. "As I told your mother, I merely wanted to talk to you."

"Is that all you want?" asked Bella incredulously in the same soft tone.

"I am curious, I'll admit." He sighed. "You are afraid of me."

"My father – I mean his friend – you aren't human, are you?" She was still whispering.

"No," he admitted. "Are you?"

"What? Of course I am! What the heck?" No longer whispering.

He chuckled. "Indeed. You smell human. Rather enticing, to be frank, but no, I just want to know - how?" At her blank stare, he sighed. "And I suppose you have no idea?"

"I don't even know what you mean!" she protested.

"Well. Apparently, you know – that I am. Not what I seem."

She barely breathed, "Vampire?"

He nodded curtly. "I am also a witch. And so are you. That is to say, I have a power that no one else has. If I meet someone, I remember their – mental signature, let us say – and I can always then find them again. This has never failed till I saw you. I didn't _notice_ you, I only saw you."

She wrinkled her nose. "So I don't have a mental signature?"

He chuckled. "Not that I can detect. I am sure you have one, but you are undetectable. This is your witch power, I suppose. To be undetectable."

"Just by you?"

"I do know other witches, but I do not think it would be a good idea to test you against them. For one thing, I shouldn't even be talking to you. But as I said, never before..."

"For God's sake, I won't _tell_ anyone! No one would believe me anyway."

"Good." He moved faster than she could see and he was behind her, grasping her shoulders. She gasped, and not just because he _was_ cold. "I would be in more trouble than you if it got out, that we talked this way."

And then he was gone, and Bella went back to her mother. At first Renee yelled at her for going off with the "weirdo," but seeing Bella was unharmed physically or mentally made her curious. And just a bit jealous. But Bella only said, "I think he was a pervert, but he disappeared before he said anything too weird." And that was almost the truth.

She was totally gonna tell the twins about Demetri, though. They would so freak out when they found out vampires were totally real!

_Two Years Ago  
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When Emmett Cullen and Rosalie Hale started school as "Doctor Cullen's foster kids," Bella rushed to call up Rachel and Becky. They drove over at her insistence that they had to hear it in person.

"They're _frickin_' vampires!"

Rachel and Becky glanced at each other. Then Becky shrugged. "Did we ever tell you about the treaty with the Cold Ones that didn't hunt humans?"

Bella thought about it. Ever since she met Demetri and learned vampires really were real, she'd forced any of the Blacks who would to tell her Quileute stories and legends. This one was different, though; this one actually happened this century, to R&B's great-grandgrather Ephraim. "Of course. Why?"

"The signature on the treaty was with Carlisle _Cullen._"

"Wait, you mean -"

"Yeah," agreed Rachel.

"Same vampires."

Bella hadn't even thought about it, but she supposed it would be stupid for Doctor and Mrs. Cullen to pretend to foster vampires if they weren't vampires themselves. "So they came back?"

"Well, it's not very sunny here," said Becky.

"And they don't sleep, so it's probably pretty boring to only be able to go out at night," added Rachel.

"Jeez, Bella, what did you think? That Demetri leech was probably a few hundred years old too," sighed Becky.

"Carlisle is for sure," remembered Rachel.

"I wonder if they're witches..." But the twins shook their heads.

"Carlisle was posing as a doctor back then too, so he must have some weird ability to resist human blood," surmised Becky.

"Yeah, it's supposed to be, like, an unstoppable craving normally, unless they've just fed," said Rachel.

"I remember," said Bella, annoyed.

"You're so lucky Demetri didn't eat you," said Becky.

"So very lucky!"

Bella sighed. Ever since she'd told the twins about meeting a vampire, they'd told her she was an idiot and lucky to be alive. Well, whatever. "Now they're going to high school. How weird is that."

The twins finally gave in. "What are they like?"

Bella described Emmett, who was obviously too old for high school, then Rosalie, who was iffy.

"Well, vampires are always beautiful," said Becky upon hearing of Rosalie.

"Yeah, that's how they lure in their prey," snapped Rachel.

"Demetri was cute but Rosalie is something else," argued Bella.

A few weeks later Becky called Bella up. "I was just at the grocery store and I saw the Cullens. You were totally right about Rosalie. Wow. There's, like, no way all vampires can be that gorgeous."

Bella felt vindicated.


	4. Chapter 3

_Chapter 3_

As predicted, Caius was less than thrilled.

The very word _wolves_ enraged him to the point that he simply said, "They must be destroyed" and hung up.

Edward sighed. "OK Jazz, you're the fighting expert. Got any suggestions?"

Jasper sprawled out on the floor. He didn't need to, but they both had tried to practice human habits ever since the '70s, when the Volturi had first allowed them to open an outpost. "Well, we don't know how strong these canines are. Carlisle never actually fought one, did he?"

"Not himself, but he mentioned the whole thing started when Emmett -"

Jasper cut him off. "Then we need to talk to Emmett. I'll do that during our hunting party. But let's assume that one wolf can't beat one vampire, but a pack can. You said there were two now? Or three?"

"Something like that, but I can't be sure."

"I say we drive to La Push tomorrow and verify it. I'm betting they all hang out together and will be human during the day."

"They can shift anytime," warned Edward.

"But they won't, not in a populated area," countered Jasper. "OK then, their advantages are numbers, fast healing – do they have any other special powers that Carlisle mentioned?"

"They didn't exactly try to show off in front of him... Wait, wait. No. He said he thought that they could talk to each other in wolf form. That was a guess though, from their behavior," said Edward.

"Mental wolf speech, another advantage. But you'll probably be able to hear that, so it won't be any better than bein' able to holler. Hm. Anything else you can think of?"

Edward pressed his finger to the bridge of his nose. "They're a lot bigger than normal wolves, more like bear-sized."

"Kay. So they'll be a little harder to rip apart. Now... our advantages are: first, that our powers should work on them. We better test that first, before a real fight, just to be sure. 'Cause if you can hear the pack talkin', _and_ I can calm them down, then we oughta be able to wipe the damn floor with 'em," concluded Jasper with a grim smile.

"And if our powers don't work?"

Jasper shrugged. "Three of them against us two? I still think we'll be able to pulverize 'em."

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Bella knew she was a late bloomer; it had only been her sophomore year that she had started having any thoughts about boys and sex beyond _ewwww gross_. Well, to be perfectly honest, she'd had celebrity crushes for years, but beyond watching _Fight Club_ fifty-three times, she had no sex life whatsoever. Sometimes before she got her period, she wondered what it might be like to make out with Mike Newton, but usually in his actual presence she forgot these fantasies. She found him cute enough if she had only wanted to make out, but she didn't want to - she wanted her first kiss to mean something.

At least, she had before meeting the new neighbors. _Hot damn, those men were damn hot_... Forget Brad Pitt, her new fantasies were going to star Edward Masen and Jasper Whitlock. "They seemed nice," she said to her father when they re-entered their living room.

He snorted. "Yeah, I guess. Never saw any of their type in Forks before."

Suddenly Bella's blood ran cold. They did seem awfully pale – did Charlie really think - ? "Their 'type'?"

"Come on, Bella, give your old man some credit. I have met homosexuals before, you know."

_Oh. That type. _"You - you really think they're gay?" _But they're so hot_, she didn't say, since Charlie would probably use that as more evidence.

And in fact: "Two handsome bachelors living together? In Forks? What do _you_ think, Bella?" At his daughter's expression, he chuckled. "Sorry, Bells. They're too old for you anyway."

She rolled her eyes at him and started on her homework. She decided they couldn't possibly be vampires, since Jasper had had brown eyes. The Cullens all had golden eyes, and Demetri had had wine-colored eyes. Emmett and Rose went to high school, but they were incredibly stand-offish. Jasper had been so polite in comparison.

The next day, the whole school was abuzz with talk of the new "gay couple." Angela saw Edward at the hardware store. Jessica was in line behind Jasper at the espresso stand. Every girl talked about how gorgeous they were, and Eric Yorkie and Tyler Crowley expressed their approval as well. (Bella had guessed about those two before, and her suspicions were now confirmed. At the same time, she really didn't think Jasper at least was gay. He'd looked at her like he wanted something from her, a more intense version of her straight male classmates' stares. What gay dude did that? It was confusing.)

No one else lived as close to the new guys, so she had her chance to shine during lunch when she talked about meeting both of them. She knew their full names, and even Jasper's eye color and height. She thought Edward was the same height but wasn't sure, since he was bending underneath a desk when she saw him.

"Did he have a nice ass at least?" asked Jessica, who apparently had only seen Jasper. At everyone's eyerolls, she continued, "What? Come on, did he?"

"Totally," said Bella. "I mean, what did you think, Angela?"

Angela blushed; she had seen Edward in the hardware store. "I - I didn't really get a good look. His face, though. Wow. I think his eyes were brown too? His lashes were so long. And he was taller than me in heels!"

"Oh my God," said Jessica. "I really wish they weren't gay. What a waste," she sighed.

"Oh come on, they're probably totally happy and in love," protested Angela.

"How could not they not be?" agreed Bella, privately still wondering about Jasper's stare. And then the bell rang, and gossip ended while class begun.

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Edward pulled over at the only gas station on the reservation, and Jasper got out to pay for the gas. When he got back, he could feel Edward's anger. "What's wrong?" he asked.

Using high-speed vampire speech, Edward hissed, "They think we're gay."

"The Chief?"

"Not just him! _Everyone_!" He waved his hand to indicate the people watching them at and around the gas station. "Every single human who's met us in this damn town thinks we're gay!"

Jasper chuckled. "You want we should prove them wrong, then?" He reached down to grab Edward's ass, but naturally Edward swatted his hand away before it got close.

"Don't be such a prick."

"Sorry, I just don't understand what difference it makes if some humans think we play grab-ass at night," Jasper shrugged.

"It doesn't matter, it's just not true!"

"Didn't people think the same thing in Montreal?"

Edward shook his head. "They just thought we were broke college students, because we weren't using the car."

Jasper rolled his eyes and finished pumping the gas. He had better things to worry about than assuaging Edward's masculinity. After they took care of the werewolves, perhaps they could visit the coven in Denali. That would certainly help Edward care less about people thinking he was a homosexual. Jasper cared less since he did occasionally fool around with male as well as female vampires. There just weren't as many in Volturi, after all.

"Jasper," said Edward in high-speech vampire again.

He stopped pumping gas and turned to Edward. His fear was just beginning to hit him. "What is it?"

"Two of the shapeshifters are coming. They're human right now, but..." Edward gripped the steering wheel. "Get in the car," he hissed and started the engine.

Jasper wasted no time putting the nozzle back up and hopping in the car. Edward gunned the engine and peeled out with a sharp squeal, heading back towards Forks, out of the reservation. The fear was pouring off Edward, now. "Are they - are they coming after us?"

Edward nodded tightly. "The leader is. The other one went to fetch the rest of the pack. Shit. There are two more."

Jasper relaxed a bit. "Only four?" The wet dog smell had been quite pungent.

"There's a few more that haven't activated, it seems. But those four are coming after us, in wolf form."

Shit. "You can read their minds, though."

"I can, but they know there's two of us. I'm going to Carlisle's right now. At worst that'll keep them off us."

"And at best, his coven will help us."

Edward shook his head. "I really don't see that happening."

"Are we gonna be able to eat?"

"Carlisle will have to convince them that we'll uphold the treaty while we're here," Edward told him. He was driving as fast as he usually did; they weren't that close to Forks, but they were off the reservation. "Which means we'll have to uphold the treaty till we can get more allies."

Jasper snorted. "I still think two of us can handle four shapeshifters. I don't know what got you so freaked out."

"Because," he said tightly, "I didn't know how many of them there were till I'd already started driving. You smelled it too."

"Yeah, it's pretty rank."

"It's everywhere!"

"I understand," Jasper told him. "You were being safe in the face of an unknown quantity. Let alone enemy that we've never faced." Neither of them had even met the Children of the Moon, as Caius had had them mostly killed before they joined the Volturi.

Edward nodded, staying quiet till he parked the car. They were in front of a house that looked rather out of place in Forks, a big fancy modern white thing with glass replacing one wall. "Esme's home, Rosalie and Emmett are still at school," Edward said.

"And Carlisle's at work."

Edward nodded and ran into the house, not bothering to knock. "Esme! You here?"

A lovely vampire who appeared to have been turned in her early 20s was watching television. She broke into a grin upon seeing them. "Edward! Oh my gosh!" She flew upon him and hugged him. "Carlisle said you were here. Oh, Edward, it's so good to see you."

"You too, Esme. This is Jasper Whitlock. I'm afraid this isn't a social call, though. Some of the young Quileute werewolves caught our scent and went a bit nuts. We had to floor it all the way out here," explained Edward.

Esme sighed, then pulled out her cell and dialed Carlisle's number. She told him what Edward just told her, and asked if he couldn't "call Sam and straighten things out?"

The sound of four wolves howling outside made Esme drop her phone. She hadn't been afraid till then. She grabbed Edward again and held him. Jasper joined in the group hug, not ashamed to show he needed comfort. He tried his best to calm the wolves down, but nothing seemed to be working.

Fortunately, the wolves were just showing off, and they shut up when Carlisle drove up ten minutes later. But he could still tell that his powers hadn't worked a bit on them.

The fear from Edward wasn't quite as palpable after a few minutes, and a few minutes after that Carlisle entered. Esme shrieked and sobbed - if she hadn't been a vampire, she would have gushed tears. Her fear was just as bad as Edward's had been earlier.

"It's all right now," he tried to soothe Esme. To Jasper and Edward, he said, "I told Sam that you two would uphold the treaty and stay off their land."

Edward nodded. "And we won't feed on humans at all."

Carlisle visibly relaxed. "Good. Good. As soon as Rosalie and Emmett get home, we can all go hunting together."

"So the wolves are gone?" At both Edward and Carlisle's nod, Jasper finally felt the tension that had gathered at the gas station dissolving. Edward didn't often freak out like that, and every time he did, it made Jasper freak out as well. Jasper wasn't exactly happy with this outcome - running with his tail between his legs, and having to give up human blood - but on the other hand, it beat ending up in a pile of parts in the La Push woods, about to be lit up. He shuddered one last time.


	5. Chapter 4

_Chapter 4_

Bella was surprised when she left school to see the missed call on her cell:

_Rachel Black_

Since she moved to Spokane to attend university, Rachel hadn't really been in touch. They spoke on Sunday afternoons, that was about it. Bella had been looking forward to telling her about the gorgeous new neighbors – but why was she calling now? She knew Bella had school. No voicemail either – well, she was calling from her dorm landline, no surprise there.

Bella put the phone on speaker after hitting redial.

"Hello?"

"Hey Rach, it's me."

"Hey Bella. Have you heard from Leah?"

"No, she isn't really my biggest fan, remember?" That was putting it lightly. Leah was pretty racist, unlike the rest of her family, and was disgusted by her father and Billy's virtual adoption of Charlie Swan. And then after hitting puberty, she'd rail on about "white bitches stealing our men." (Despite having a relatively happy relationship with Sam Uley.) So, no, Bella didn't speak to Leah much.

Rachel apparently had forgotten this. "Oh, damn. I was hoping – she and I had a weird fight last night, and today she told me that she was wrong about Sam."

"Wait, wait, Sam's been running around on her at all hours of the night, and _she's_ wrong?" Even Bella thought Leah deserved better than Sam's treatment.

"I know! But last night, we were talking and, well, you know her temper..."

Bella knew Leah's temper all right. "Yeah, she got pissed off at you and hung up?"

"That's the weird part. She didn't hang up, she just like, threw the phone or something. Or maybe she dropped it. Anyway I hung up and tried to call her back like an hour later, and it just rang. Then I tried her home phone and it was busy. Isn't that weird?"

"Totally. But you spoke today?"

"Mmmm. She called me and was all apologetic about getting upset last night, talk about out of character, she never _ever_ apologizes for losing her temper, and she never says she's wrong about anything!"

"I don't know, Rach, she's your friend, not mine. Honestly this doesn't sound like something to complain about," Bella pointed out.

"Well, no, it's just seriously out of character, and I thought maybe – I don't know, ok, so honestly? I thought Sam joined some kind of religious cult, and finally convinced her to join too," admitted Rachel.

Bella started laughing so hard she almost missed her driveway. "Jesus Christ, Rachel," she finally got out. "Talk about out of character."

"Well, she refused to tell me what it was, just said she couldn't say, but that she was wrong about Sam. That was pretty much all she'd say to me. Her best friend!"

Bella didn't know what to say. She could care less if Leah was being hoodwinked by Sam or not. "Not to change the subject, but some guys bought the old Lawson place on my road."

The distraction worked. "Seriously? I never thought that would happen! Who bought it?"

"Two super hot guys from Canada," Bella said. "One of them was a long lost relative of the old owner I guess? I dunno, but the whole town is talking about these guys, omigod Rachel, you would not believe how totally gorgeous they are." She noted their car was gone. Oh well.

"You should email me some pics. How old are they?"

Bella laughed. "Not that old. They can't be more than twenty or so."

"Not bad. Definitely email me some pics."

"What, college boys not doing it for you, gotta come back here for it?" she teased.

"Well it's quiet during holidays. But no, there are lots of cute guys," said Rachel, and started talking about one guy in her Statistics class that asked her out to coffee and so on.

Bella's mind was back on the new neighbors, though. She really wanted to see Edward up close, like she had Jasper. He looked younger than Jasper, almost like he should still be in school too – maybe he'd just graduated. That wouldn't be so bad of an age gap, right? He couldn't _really_ be gay, right?

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The hunting party was excellent fun. Jasper and Edward talked to Emmett and Rosalie, about the wolves and the Blacks, and about cars, and about the flavor profiles of various carnivores, and about X-Box games, and well, about nothing in particular. No one cared much for elk, but the two bears were gladly shared.

Edward asked Rosalie about Bella Swan. She didn't know much; she and Emmett were posing as tenth-graders when she had started ninth grade, so never shared classes. She was on the honor roll, top ten percent, but not top five percent. Her father was the police chief, as Edward already knew.

"Why are you asking so many questions about a human, Edward?" asked Rosalie. He sighed and looked at Jasper, who answered for him.

"The young lady happens to be his singer. He wants her blood pretty damn bad, and she's got a mental shield. So he's havin' a hard time not killin' the poor girl," explained Jasper to the Cullen clan. And all their thoughts sounded at once.

_A singer! _Esme._  
><em>

_He hasn't even gone for her yet? _Emmett._  
><em>

_This is horrible. He mustn't tell the Volturi. Has he? _Carlisle._  
><em>

_What an idiot. He should just leave Forks. _Rosalie._  
><em>

"Jasper and I are in fact going to run up to Alaska tomorrow."

"Drive," corrected Jasper. "We're going to go meet the Denali coven. See if they'll join in with us."

_No. Oh, no. I should have realized - Caius won't stand for the treaty here. _"To kill the wolves?" Carlisle's calm voice belied his concern; he hated violence, and he wanted the treaty to hold.

"Carlisle, you know that once we're established in Seattle, the wolves aren't going to sit for it."

"They would, if -"

"If _none_ of us drank from humans?" Edward sighed. "Even _your_ coven has slipped in the past, Carlisle. It's sheer luck that your slips were all before the treaty, but it could happen anytime. Any one of you could scent a singer again. Then what?"

"What you want isn't any better," sneered Rosalie. "You're not even going to try, you're just planning to _slaughter_ them."

"Our species are natural enemies," said Jasper. "The _treaty_ is what's strange and off-putting, not any kind of battle between us and them. That's only natural."

"So is drinking humans! And I've never done that either."

Edward stared at her. "You've killed more people than the rest of your coven combined, Rosalie Hale."

He knew it was coming, but he let her slap him anyway. "You couldn't get out of my sight soon enough, Edward Masen," she spat.

Carlisle and Esme frowned, but said their good-byes to avoid a scene. They were all well in the Olympic Forest at this point, so Edward and Jasper turned and ran alone back to their car at the Cullen place.

"Should we stop at home and get luggage or anything?"

Edward shook his head. "I don't want to risk scenting the Swan girl. Let's just head straight to Kingston, the ferry leaves at 5am."

Even a normal person would take under two hours to get to Kingston from Forks, so that sounded fine to Jasper. Then a few thousand miles to Denali National Park... plenty of time to cool off. And then, who knew, maybe they'd meet a mate in the coven up there.

At worst, they could get laid.

**_Author's note: In my head Jasper sounds like Matthew McConaughey in Dazed and Confused._**


	6. Chapter 5

_Chapter 5_

Jasper and Edward were already heading north on I-5 by the time Carlisle texted the numbers he had for the Denali coven. The first two numbers Jasper tried remained unanswered, but a male picked up when he tried the third number.

"Hello, this is Eleazar."

"My name is Jasper Whitlock, Edward Masen and I work for the Volturi and are currently in Washington with Carlisle Cullen."

"I used to work for the Volturi, actually. You're the empath, and he's the telepath, correct?"

"Uh, that's right." Jasper recognized the voice now - when Edward had finally convinced him the join the Guard, Eleazar had just been leaving them, with his mate. Edward had told him that he'd saw a female, his mate, in a newborn army that was to be eliminated by the Guard, and he saved her life. After that, it was just simpler to leave with her. "You're still with, uh, Carmen?"

"Correct. We went to Alaska to join the Denalis, and we've been vegetarian since then. They don't have much contact with the Volturi, you know. Not since Sasha was executed."

Carlisle had told them about the "mother" of the clan - she had kept an immortal child and therefore had been executed, a few millennia ago. Perhaps not the best place to go for allies, but...

"Well, there's a situation here, and we need to see if you'd be willing to help us. You know Edward well enough, but not myself, and we don't know the Denali sisters at all, so..."

"Yes, of course, when they get back I'll let them know you're on your way. I'm sure they'd be delighted to meet two single males, no matter what the occasion." He chuckled softly, and Jasper chuckled back. They said "adiós" and hung up.

Of course, for Edward, allies were a secondary consideration. Being so near to his singer had affected his judgement. He didn't tell Jasper the full extent of it, but Jasper was an empath, after all. In reality, Edward was afraid he was beginning to lose his sanity. _How could one human smell that good?_ Even now, thinking of it, made him want to spin the car around and drive three hundred miles back to western Washington.

At least all the reasons not to go back seemed bigger here - in Forks, none of them made sense. It was a horrible thought, that he _must not_ kill that girl. The wolves would definitely take it as an excuse for all-out war, and they really didn't have enough backup. Even only four wolves could convince the rest of the Quileute tribe and - flamethrowers. He shuddered.

"What are you afraid of?"

"Flamethrowers," answered Edward honestly.

Jasper barked a laugh. "If there's one thing our kind need fear, that'd be it," he conceded with a chuckle. He didn't need to ask why Edward was thinking of such things. Edward could obviously only be thinking of one reason that people would use flamethrowers on them. "Chief Swan loves his lil' girl."

"I know. I'd welcome death after killing an innocent," he said honestly.

He rolled his eyes. _Such a martyr._ "She might die anyway. Humans often get into car accidents, ya know."

"If she were in a car accident, I'd run up to her and eat her," he sighed. "Talk about breaking cover."

"Shit, boy. That means you'll have to keep her alive, then."

That had already occurred to him. "I'm screwed."

"That 'bout sums it up, yeah," Jasper agreed.

The long drive was mainly diverted by talk of the wolves. Jasper reviewed battles in his mind, but his experience was mostly with newborn armies who only had strength on their side. These wolves were going to be a different matter entirely. "Especially if more of them change. What makes them change, anyway?"

Edward sighed. "Carlisle believed the presence of vampires was what activated the wolf change."

_Oh, great._ "So our filling up on the reservation might have created even more wolves?"

Edward nodded. "It was just a theory, but it makes sense."

Jasper muttered a curse about crazy Indian magic. "So who do we have to worry about?"

"The Blacks, the Uleys, and the Atearas signed the treaty. So, any of their male descendents."

"Do the women not carry the genes? Or do they just not shapeshift?"

"At least one has," he admitted. "We'd better assume the worst, that most of the local tribe carries the ability."

"Eddie, next time ya gotta note the detailed genealogy of the sumbitches, y'unnerstand?" His accent had been getting stronger and stronger.

"Don't call me that."

_We're fixin' to die._ "So, Carlisle def'ly ain't go' help us kill 'em, how 'bout that Emmett?"

"Emmett enjoys a good fight, but he's not going to go against his mate. Rosalie enjoys passing as human and won't do anything to ruin the status quo."

_Fuckin' hell._ "We really shoulda stayed in Seattle, boy."

"There's still only four wolves right now. If that number does increase, I can still detect how many whenever I'm in range. I know it takes _at least_ two wolves to take down one vampire, and they seemed convinced that the four of them could take us down, that's why I panicked. But as long as _we_ keep to the treaty, they have no reason to attack us."

"'Less they just feel like whuppin' some ass," he muttered, but he was calming down. "Did you find out how long it takes for a Quileute to go from zero to werewolf?"

"Five to seven days was what I gathered."

"So we've got some time, then." His mind was finally giving up on battle strategies and moving to more lewd pursuits. He hadn't seen what the clan looked like, but vampires were vampires, and tended to be attractive if turned before a certain age.

"Yes, Jasper, you can wet your wick," said Edward distastefully. Not that he was against sex, but seeing Carlisle and Esme again - not to mention Rose and Emmett - renewed his fervor to stay a virgin till he fell in love. But Jasper had died a soldier - not a virgin - so he saw no reason not to indulge with willing partners.

And so, with Edward driving like a bat out of hell, they arrived at the two small houses where the three women and the mated couple resided. Tanya, Irina, and Katrina were as glad to see two single males as Jasper was to see three single females. Edward reminded them about his and Jasper's powers and bowed out to stay with Eleazar and Carmen.

It wasn't nearly far enough away.

So while Jasper thought he'd died and gone to heaven, Eleazar and Carmen were only too happy to show Edward around the park, where they hunted and dined on grizzly.

_**author's note: sorry about the delay. to make up for it, Bella's past three days will be coming up tomorrow.**_


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Every morning and every night when Bella drove past Edward and Jasper's with their car gone, she couldn't help frowning. Gossip at school had pointed to them actually being out of town, and she feared she'd never see them again. On the second day she decided that even if they did come back, she really had no chance. Either they were gay, or they were old enough to make her dad shoot them. So to distract herself during trig class, she made a list of every single male under the age of twenty that she might consider instead.

Of course, since she lived in Forks, the list was rather short: all the boys in tenth grade and up, and the ones she knew at the rez. Growing up with all same people since kindergarten tended to make them far less attractive, though. Embry and Jacob were definitely appealing physically, and they seemed a lot mature than her classmates. Plus, she was fairly certain they - and Quil, who was _not_ a mature candidate - were sort of interested in her already.

So after school, she called up Jacob. She was rather surprised when Billy answered. "Jake's pretty sick, Bells. I'll let you know when he gets better."

_Well, that's that,_ she sighed. With no distractions available, she decided to drive by the old Lawson place one more time. She was completely taken by surprise to see someone standing in the road. She slammed on the brakes of her truck and screamed as she just barely avoided hitting what seemed to be a small woman. Bella took a few deep breaths before getting out of the car.

"Holy crow, are you okay?" she asked. Oddly enough, the woman hadn't seemed to even notice the truck. She still stood in the middle of the road and was staring at the Lawson place.

"As okay as ever," she replied. Even though it was a monotone, her voice itself was lovely. The woman seemed tiny, an inch or two shorter than Bella (who was five foot four) and probably twenty pounds lighter. She wore a white summer dress under a worn brown leather jacket, and matching leather harness boots. She still hadn't looked at Bella, who had started to wonder if "okay as ever" mean there was something seriously wrong with her.

"They're in Alaska," the woman added. "They'll be back Saturday."

"They - you know them?"

She shrugged. "I'm Alice."

"Bella." Alice had made no effort to shake hands, so Bella didn't bother. She glanced at her truck - it was dented in front, which made her do a double-take before she figured it must have already been there...

"You'll know what you know when you know it, Bella. I envy you. I _already_ know what I know." She sounded exasperated.

"And what do you know?" asked Bella, now more certain than ever that the woman had something wrong with her.

Still in the same monotone, she said, "Edward and Jasper are ours."

Bella had been about to write Alice off completely, but now she was feeling goosebumps. "What - why do you say that?"

"Because I see it." She finally looked at Bella. "I've been able to see the future for as long as I can remember. Do I need to tell you what that means?"

Something finally clicked. _That was a new dent!_ "You're a vampire," she whispered.

Alice nodded. "Over thirty years since I fed on a human, don't worry."

"And - you can see the future? You're a witch?"

"Right. James found me when I was human. I don't remember it, but I could do it then too. In the 'twenties that wasn't exactly kosher. He had to break me out of the asylum." Her sentences were even more lifeless than before. "But I kept seeing Jasper, my whole life, till recently. I got scared." She stared at the house again. "As long as I could see him, I felt safe and contented, but this sort of black fog appeared when he moved here. I got scared," she said again.

"Wait, so, you never saw Jasper before? I mean, like, not in person."

"Right. Just in my head," she said with a bitter laugh. "But you've seen him?"

"Yeah. Him and Edward. They just moved here last week... you saw that?"

She nodded. "I saw that, and then I saw nothing. I got scared."

"But you said they were in Alaska."

"I don't know! But I saw them going to Alaska on my way here," she confirmed. "And they'll be back Saturday."

Bella suddenly put two and two together. "So - so they're vampires too?" At Alice's nod, she felt a bit light-headed, then woozy, then she actually fainted.

When she came too, she was sitting inside her truck cab, while Alice fed her cold water. "I'm sorry. I should have known better. You're just only human," she apologized.

"I can't believe those two are vampires," Bella muttered. "And you! How many vampires are there in Forks?"

Alice started. "That was a rhetorical question, right?"

"Oh my God. Are you telling me there are actually more vampires in Forks?"

"Besides the Cullens? No."

Bella sighed. "Right, the Cullens. Is that why those two came here? I didn't think all vampires knew each other!"

"Normally they don't, but Dr. Cullen was the one who created Edward," she explained.

"Oh. Huh." Bella drank the water deeply. "So why doesn't he live with them?"

Alice hesitated. "That's for Edward to tell you, I think."

"Well, uh, thanks for helping me with the fainting and all, but I better get home." Bella frowned. "Do you need a place to stay?"

"Not really. And your dad _really_ wouldn't understand. But thanks for the offer. I will visit you soon." And she smiled for the first time. "It was very nice to finally meet you, Bella. We're going to be friends for a long time."

And then she was gone, so fast that Bella almost wondered if she imagined it. Till she looked at the dent in front of her truck again.

"And this is where I almost hit a vampire," she said in a low voice.

That night, Alice once again scared the crap out of Bella by opening her bedroom window as she was reading in bed. "Sorry for scaring you. I figure we should hang out a bit and talk. I don't have any memories of being human, so if it's not a bother, I'd like to hear yours."

"Well, uh..." She wasn't sure where to start. "Um, I'm sort of into this boy, but he's sick right now, like, right after I decided to try to get closer to him. It's kind of annoying..."

In fact, over the next few days, she checked with Billy every day, and Jacob was still sick.

However, Alice would climb up to her room about thirty minutes before she would fall asleep, and they would talk.

Bella talked more than Alice did, for she relished details of Bella's life. She never talked about James - or any other vampires, for that matter. She was still a little off-putting, but Bella chalked that up to her being a precog that didn't hang out with humans. The Cullens had to pass every day as humans, so they were probably better at it.

Alice also didn't mention Edward anymore. It was clear that Jasper was the main reason she had come here, but only because she didn't understand the blank spots in her visions. She kept repeating "I got scared." But as Saturday came closer and closer, she got more and more excited about meeting Jasper.

Bella didn't want to pry, but on Friday night she couldn't hold back. "You did tell me that I was going to be with Edward, right?"

Alice was quiet. It was clear she didn't want to say anything, so Bella glared at her. Finally, she said, "It's going to be difficult. I have seen him killing you almost as often as not. I don't know if you really ought to - associate with him."

"Because they eat people." Her stomach churned something awful. A romantic future with a man-eating vampire wasn't as anywhere near as interesting as her initial Edward fantasies had been.

"It's a little more complicated than that," she sighed. "Right now they both have promised not to kill while in this part of the country. And even before, the two of them would only hunt the worst criminals to feed on. The problem is that Edward... Um. Shit. I don't know how to not offend you."

Bella rolled her eyes. "Offend me, go ahead."

"The way your blood smells, it's very... attractive to him. I mean, since I haven't eaten people in decades, I can be around you, as long as you don't cut yourself accidentally, but I have to admit that you do smell pretty delicious. And for Edward, it's even worse. I think they call it a singer, your blood sings to him, and -"

"Alice! That's really freaking gross!"

"I knew you'd be offended!"

Bella sighed, even though she felt so very creeped out by the thought of vampires liking the smell of her blood badly enough to _kill_ her. "Sorry. Go on."

Alice shrugged. "That's about it. He doesn't _want_ to eat anyone like you, but you smell almost irresistible to him."

"But you have seen futures in which he doesn't - eat me." Bella shivered.

"True. I've seen both. Just, the longer you wait, the better it'll be," she confirmed.

"Longer, as in, years?"

Alice pondered this. "Yes, if you wait two years, there's almost no chance at all that he'll kill you."

"Well. I think - I'm in favor of that."


	8. Chapter 7

_**Chapter 7**_

At 1am on Friday, Edward pounded on the sisters' door, wishing right now that Jasper could read his mind. He was busy, of course, but he'd been "busy" the whole damn time.

Tanya opened the door. She hadn't been indulging with Jasper just now. As their coven leader, she'd had first pick and –

"Sorry, forgot you are telepath," she said in her sultry voice. "You want Jazz, yes?"

"Not the way you do," he muttered. "Has he even talked to you about the wolves?"

She laughed, a deep-throated sound that had a rather interesting effect on Edward's groin. "You can do that. Let us hunt, eh?"

So they hunted. Over the past few days, Edward had decided he liked mountain lion better than grizzly, and couldn't help feeling that hunting with Tanya was ... kind of sexy. Afterwards, he told her everything he had learned about the werewolves before leaving Forks.

"We cannot help you with these. Especially not while there is a treaty. Breaking a treaty that way is dishonorable."

Edward sighed.

"Jasper did manage to tell us of _la tua cantante,_" she said. "You know it will be easier to resist her if you keep eating the animals."

"Don't worry," he growled. He'd almost forgotten the damned Swan girl. No, that was a lie. He compared every human he'd scented to her, but fortunately there weren't many in this part of Alaska in September. "You've eaten people for centuries. How can you stand this filth?"

She shrugged. "We decided that if we stopped killing the men, we could keep screwing them."

"And then what, you stopped killing everyone else too?"

"It was gradual," she admitted. "I was first to stop completely. It was just a test, just to see if I could. My sisters worried I'd gone totally crazy. But it was clear that I was - much smarter, more clear-headed and less violent. And more – the more I stuck to animals, the more I wanted to only eat them, you see? There was – like Jasper. Empathy."

She didn't mean exactly like Jasper, obviously. "But he and I already know how they feel."

"Even those you eat want to live. Have parents, brothers, children. You do not have to be the judge and executioner if you do not wish it."

"We'll see," he muttered, then ran back to the house. His head start was only two minutes, but he beat her by five.

_He is so fast. I wonder what else his legs could do. _

Enough of this, thought Edward, and shouted, "JASPER WHITLOCK GET YOUR PANTS ON ALREADY!"

:‾:·:‾:·:‾:·:‾:·:‾:·:‾:·:‾:·:‾:·:‾:·:‾:·:‾:·:‾:

"I do not understand why you wouldn't screw Tanya," said Jasper for what must have been the eighth time since they started driving back to Washington.

"Why her specifically?"

"Well, you fed together, right?"

"I also feed with you," he pointed out, and wished he hadn't when Jasper grinned and thought _Exactly_.

He ignored that as he always did, and started a new topic. "You were supposed to tell them about the werewolves, too."

"I am ever so sorry that slipped my mind," said Jasper, not sounding one iota sorry. "But Tanya wouldn't help anyway, right? Nor Eleazar?"

"Right," he admitted. He wasn't very surprised that Eleazar and Carmen refused to aid the Volturi, but Tanya never even thought of it in those terms. He wondered if he should have phrased it that way. "She said she wouldn't break a treaty that stood."

"Well, you and I just have to kill these wolves one at a time."

"While human," he agreed, although the thought of spilling that blood didn't exactly make him feel good. Jasper was the soldier, not he.

"While human? Wouldn't they just shift?"

"They won't shift in public."

Jasper looked at him and thought _He doesn't look like an imbecile, and yet._ "We can't exactly kill in public neither."

Edward had to laugh at that. "The two of us on one human? You know we can kill faster than anyone could see."

"It's still against the rules."

"So is breaking a treaty," he pointed out. "Caius will definitely not care that we killed in public, as long as we are careful. After we kill one, we can hide it in the forest. And repeat. Simple." Jasper was still giving him that look. "You have a better idea?"

"I just don't think you've thought this out. They know what we look like - they are not going to go out in public alone anymore. But if they do, aren't they telepathic with their kind?"

Edward gave a slow grin. It was the grin he gave his prey. "Only in wolf form."

"I see," Jasper said, nodding. "Wish you'd noticed that before." He was thinking about the gas station.

"They were human then. So I didn't realize it till after they came to Carlisle's," he explained. "Carlisle wasn't even sure about the telepathy, remember?"

"Still. We should have started killing 'em then anyway." _And eat whatever we wanted._

"I think while the Swan girl is an issue for me, I'd better stick to animals anyway," answered Edward. "Besides, I promised Carlisle."

Jasper snorted. "He'll see this killing the same as any other. And they will too! How are you planning on getting them alone and not leaving your scent? If they realize we killed one, the other three won't but go for us."

"Well, then, I guess you're right, we can't kill them one by one. We have to get them all together, as humans, and kill them. You'll make them unable to resist, and I'll know every move they make before they make it. Even if we can only kill two before they shift."

"One little problem there. How do you know my power works on 'em?"

Edward blinked. That had not occurred to him, but – "You tried it on them."

"Hell yes I did. And not a damn thing happened."

"Huh. Well. I don't think it'll be too bad of a disadvantage," he insisted. "I mean, unless you have a better idea?"

"Not yet," admitted Jasper. "We do need to get their numbers down before we fight, else we'll be the dead ones."

:‾:·:‾:·:‾:·:‾:·:‾:·:‾:·:‾:·:‾:·:‾:·:‾:·:‾:·:‾:

"Yes, if you wait two years, there's almost no chance at all that he'll kill you."

"I'm in favor of that," said Bella dryly.

Alice grinned. Then frowned. "Damn it! They went away again!"

"Weird. I wonder what causes that."

"It must be something here. It never happened before they came here!" Alice seemed frantic. Bella supposed it would be something like if she was suddenly unable to read hardback books – she'd be upset too. "Oh, what? Now you went away!"

Bella frowned, but then her cell rang. It was Jacob. "I gotta take this, hold on. Hello?"

"Hey Bells."

"Hey Jake, you doing ok?"

"I guess."

"Your dad said you were real sick."

"Yeah."

"Are you better now? Can I come by?"

"No! No, you can't come by!" He sounded almost angry. Or upset? She supposed he was still ill, only well enough to talk on the phone.

"Sorry, I just thought we could hang out. I could come by, you could invite Quil and Embry…"

He laughed. It was a low, bitter sound. "I don't talk to Embry anymore."

"Well, Quil, then." She thought he was also maybe afraid of being alone with a girl; Quil would make it less date-like.

"Look, now's just not a good time for this."

Bella snapped, "Then why the hell did you bother calling?"

"My dad said you called," he said, nonplussed.

"Well thank you for returning my call," she said bitterly, and hung up. _So much for even being friends with Jacob Black._

"OK that's really weird. You're totally fine now."

"You can see my future again?"

Alice nodded. "I couldn't right before the phone rang, or during the call, till almost the end of it."

"Now that is weird. Maybe it's Jacob! Maybe he's so volatile that anything he does is unpredictable!"

Alice laughed. "That could be it. When you first talked about him, I couldn't even see him at all either."

"Well I think that's a pretty foregone conclusion then. Wait, I'll test it again." She thought of going to see Embry.

"I see you talking with Native American boy with long hair - but he's got gray eyes?"

"Ha! Okay, now let's try this." She decided that tomorrow night she was definitely, no matter what, going to confront Jacob.

"Now you're gone after tomorrow night."

She explained what she'd done to Alice, who smiled. "Very scientific of you, Bella. But you should probably try a few others too."

"I'm content with Jacob Black being the source of all your troubles," she snipped. "Now I need to go to sleep."

Alice laughed, the first time Bella ever heard such a thing. "All right then, sleep well," she said before hopping out the window.


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

As Edward pulled up to the Washington border, Jasper asked, "Can I drive the rest of the way?"

"You never let me drive your Corvette," Edward replied absently, digging in his coat pockets, then jeans.

"That's because you wrecked that Volkswagen in Hamburg."

Edward glared at him. "The Nazis were firing on us! You would have done the same thing!"

It was true, but the fact was, Edward was driving that time, not him. "So why won't you let me drive?"

"I just told you." Edward was taking off his coat, practically ripping the lining out. His frustration was increasing, but Jasper didn't think it had anything to do with his bringing up that old World War 2 accident.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Edward stopped moving and stared at Jasper. "Looking for our _contacts_, of course. Or hadn't you noticed we're about to speak with humans?"

Jasper smiled slowly, staring back at Edward. His eyes were currently the golden hue that the Denalis and Cullens shared. His thought appeared to hit Edward like a brick. Not visually – he didn't move except to sit still again – but his emotions had calmed completely.

"I forgot about that," he admitted. "It takes a lot longer as a newborn. And you know, no contacts back then." He chuckled. "Carlisle didn't let me near people even after my eyes turned."

Jasper knew newborns, but he'd thought better of Edward. "Your mind-reading didn't help?" Edward smirked. "Guess not." Newborn hunger and skittishness was always the same, he supposed.

"I never had any accidents, though. Even after leaving, you know, I never killed an innocent."

Jasper nodded, but Edward was staring off into the distance. The calmness was gone; his emotions were tangled like a kitten with a ball of yarn. He was quiet, but the waves of frustration and hints of despair were starting to get to Jasper.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Edward blinked. "Maybe we shouldn't stay in Forks."

Jasper sighed. He'd thought about this already. "Unless we'd just stayed in Seattle, the wolves probably would have run up against us. We both thought the Olympic Peninsula was the best place. Not as many people, but a lot more cloud cover. Summer hikers and winter skiers. Who'd have thought there'd be shapeshifters to hunt us? At least Forks had the Cullens." Carlisle had saved their stony hides. If they'd eaten people – even if they'd cleaned up after themselves – the wolves would have started getting suspicious. Especially after the rest of the Volturi arrived. Sheer disaster.

"You're right." He shuddered. "If one of us hunted alone, and all four wolves –"

"Exactly." Jasper knew how easy it was to kill their kind, if you had the strength. Not a pretty picture. He thought of it anyway. Meeting Chelsea and Demetri and Alec and Jane. He'd been spared only because of his powers, and because he promised to join them. Not that he had much choice after Chelsea, and after the slaughter of the newborn armies –

"Enough! I have to drive!"

This was just an excuse; they'd been sitting in line for over five minutes, and Edward barely needed any focus to drive in any case. "Wolves can't be any harder to kill than newborns," he said, trying to reassure him.

"Right. And we've killed lawbreakers before."

They had, indeed. The main reason they established outposts was to make sure there were no lawbreakers in the vicinity. They'd even eradicated covens before. With Jasper's fighting abilities – and projecting calm – and Edward's speed and telepathy, they'd never had a problem. These wolves could hardly be any trickier. The initial panic Edward had shown was simply because he hadn't been sure of their numbers.

So what was his problem now?

Edward looked at him. "Isabella Swan!" he hissed, and then it was their turn with the border agent.

Jasper projected good cheer as Edward handed him their American passports. They agreed to use the Canadian passports to enter and leave Alaska, as the timestamps would be too suspicious otherwise. Really there wouldn't be any issue, but the records might be checked one day, and traveling from Alaska to Vancouver in under a week might alert the wrong people. Always better to leave a believable paper trail, if one had to be left. Jasper was good at cleaning up paper trails, but he really did prefer not to have to.

He didn't say anything till they cleared the border, but the second they officially entered Washington, Jasper asked, "The police chief's daughter?"

"I want to eat her," confessed Edward. This was not like Edward. Of course like every other vampire, he more than merely enjoyed feeding, but only newborns were unable to control their urges. Edward had rather impeccable control. Actually, since meeting Carlisle, Jasper was less amazed at Edward's control, only surprised that Edward lasted ten years before taking to a more – traditional – lifestyle. At any rate, Edward was not the type to go on about the savor of blood. And to Jasper, they all tasted the same anyway.

"Singer," was all he said, though. Jasper only knew of "singers" from comments made by Aro, later explained by Edward. Aro had been able to read vampires that ate their "singers," and the experiences, apparently, had been most exquisite. Aro felt them all, and when he recalled them, Edward saw it all. Although his telepathy only covered thoughts, not feelings.

So. Her blood called to him, stronger than any other. "I don't know, Eddie, maybe you should just kill her."

Edward's calm was shattered. He didn't even snap over the "Eddie" bit. "Carlisle – I can't do that, Jasper."

From what Jasper knew of singers, it was a miracle that Edward even resisted her the first time.

"I thought it was the police chief," he said wryly. "Daughter's not so much better."

"So what, you think you won't be able to get used to her?"

"She drives by our house twice a day. Twice a day, I stop what I'm doing and I'm almost outside before I remember," he admitted. "The wolves weren't the only reason I wanted to leave."

The wolves weren't reason to leave, but this might be. The only problem was – "Caius will not accept us leaving Forks till the wolves are dead. Hell, if we don't paint this Alaska trip the right way…"

Edward nodded. "We were looking for allies. No problem there." They were almost at the Coupeville ferry. So many humans. Jasper stopped breathing. At least he didn't have to talk to Edward. "Don't worry," he whispered, "one good thing about knowing I have a singer."

They didn't appeal to him at all? Damn.

"Not exactly," he whispered. "I just can't be bothered, you might say."

Jasper tried not to laugh. Instead he thought, _So what are their names, anyway? I'm going to internet-stalk them._

"Sam Uley, Jared Cameron, Paul Lahote, and Leah Clearwater."


	10. Chapter 9

**_Sorry for the delay. TOOTHACHES SUCK._**

**Chapter 9**

Before Alice left that Friday night, Bella asked where she was staying. She hesitated at first, then slowly answered, "Do you know Carlisle Cullen?"

Bella wondered why she asked - couldn't she see the future to questions like that? - but answered, "Yeah, he and the rest of them are vampires - too."

"I'm going to go meet them tonight."

"Can I come?"

Alice cringed. "That's not a good idea."

"But I thought they didn't eat people," said Bella slowly.

"No, but they work very hard to keep humans from knowing what they are. It would be better if I told them first that you know. And - just the Quileutes right? You never told anyone else?" Bella shook her head, and Alice clearly seemed to relax. "So I'll let them know that then. Their reactions are a little confusing."

Bella wasn't surprised. It had taken her a few days to believe that Alice really could see the future, it would probably be harder to convince four people.

* * *

><p>Emmett was playing Diablo on the PC upstairs when the doorbell rang. He and the rest of the family ran downstairs - they couldn't hear a heartbeat or breathing, which meant vampire. Carlisle let Emmett in the front of their little group, and he cautiously opened the door. A small female vampire with short dark hair stood there. She had golden eyes.<p>

"May we help you?" asked Emmett.

"I'm Alice. I'm a witch who can see the future. You're Emmett - Rosalie - Esme - and Carlisle Cullen," she said.

The Cullens all looked at each other. Rosalie asked, "What car am I going to work on tomorrow?"

Alice made a face. "It doesn't work quite like that. I can only see what people do after they make clear decisions. Oh, the Jaguar."

Emmett decided on his own test. "I want to play blackjack with her."

Rosalie rolled her eyes but fetched the card deck, throwing it straight at Emmett's face. Of course he caught it as it bounced harmlessly off. Carlisle volunteered to deal, and not long after, Alice had won five hundred dollars from Emmett.

"Is anyone not convinced?" asked Carlisle after the third time Emmett said "Just one more round."

Everyone agreed out loud that Alice clearly could predict the future. She smiled and said, "So I guess now you're wondering why I'm here. Well, until recently nothing has blocked my vision. Indecisive people can give me headaches, but I could still see them. But shortly after two other vampires moved to Forks, things started to go - blank. It worried me enough to come here and find out why."

"Why were you looking at Forks?" demanded Rosalie. Emmett rubbed her shoulder, trying to calm her down.

"Because of Jasper Whitlock. I think he's supposed to be my mate."

"You know he kills people, right?" Rose asked.

Alice replied, "Why do you think I haven't tried to meet him before? But I saw him start to eat animals here, and then, nothing. Well, I saw him going to Alaska with his friend Edward." She bit her lip, like she saw something in Alaska she didn't like much. Emmett could guess what that was, knowing the Denali sisters. He tried to imagine being able to see Rosalie with another man before meeting her. It didn't exactly work, since he knew that she never willingly had had sex with another man. Really, Alice was in a rather unique position.

"I'm still not sure exactly why you've come here," said Carlisle in his doctor-voice. "That is, to us. None of us have powers, you must know that."

"No, but you know what they've been doing here, right?"

"Yeah, they freaked out the wolves," chuckled Emmett.

Alice turned her neck to him so fast it made a whiplash noise. "Wolves?"

Carlisle explained, first the meeting in the thirties, then Edward and Jasper's activities, and how they chose to go to Alaska rather than fight alone. Emmett did wish that Rose wasn't so adamant about keeping the peace; he'd have loved to help the two of them out.

During the whole story, Alice was staring slackjawed at Carlisle. Finally she said, "That must be it, I can't see the wolves. If a decision is about them in some way, it blanks out everything."

"I wonder why that should be? I suppose they are rather immature," mused Carlisle.

Emmett wondered what it would be like if his strength, say, didn't work against the wolves. That would freak him out for sure. No wonder Alice was acting so - unvampiric.

Esme spoke up. "You are more than welcome to stay with us till they get back from Alaska, Alice."

"Thank you, Esme. I'll take you up on that." She had a small bag on the porch that she retrieved, then followed Esme upstairs.

_I trust her not_, signed Rose in the private mate-sign-language only she and Emmett shared.

_Edward_, he spelled out to her. _Ask questions in front of him._

Rose smiled at that idea. Edward had left the family before they had been turned, but he had kept in touch sporadically, and they were well aware he was a telepath. Alice could lie out loud if questioned in front of Edward, but not in her mind._  
><em>


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

As Edward and Jasper turned onto their street early Saturday morning, he observed, again, the tantalizing scent of Bella Swan. And then, another scent that made him accelerate past the house.

"What are you -?" asked Jasper before he caught the scent. Another vampire, not one of the Cullens. The scent was strongest at the Swan residence. Edward pulled up next to a tree and climbed it, the engine still running. He saw her sleeping soundly, heard her slowed heartbeat and breathing. He jumped to the ground then got back into the driver's seat.

After pulling the car back onto the road, he sighed, "She's fine."

"I heard the two heartbeats from the car," said Jasper slowly. _Is he going to eat her after all?_

"No," he snapped and turned the car off. As carefully as he could, he smoothed over the dirt and grass from where he pulled up to the tree. Jasper was still thinking he overreacted, so he said, "The dogs would have - if she was eaten - disaster, war."

"As opposed to what's going to happen when we start killing them," observed Jasper dryly.

"Well, we don't want them to know what hits them till we - hit them." He finished taking care of the lawn, without Jasper's help. "Besides, even without the dogs, it would look really bad that we both left for Alaska."

"Yep, one of us shoulda stayed and got killed," Jasper drawled thickly.

Edward threw a rock at Jasper; it shattered and fell harmlessly from his forehead. It was true, though; once they had picked Forks, a vampiric death would have probably gotten Aro's attention. Which is to say, the attention of Jane and Alec. Jasper was thinking of the twins and their... discipline.

"Well, the Cullens probably know what's been goin' on," said Jasper. "Let's get goin."

"Indeed." Edward started the car and drove very fast to the Cullens'. The scent fortunately ended there. And everyone else was apparently home too.

Carlisle and Esme greeted them. "Did you enjoy Alaska?" she asked after hugging - hugging both of them!

"Yes Ma'am," replied Jasper, amused at her actions.

"Unfortunately they refused to get involved in any action involving the wolves," said Edward, frowning.

"Are you still determined to fight them?" asked Carlisle. He was rather upset at the idea of a war; he was seeing his family injured by the wolves, even if they stood apart. They would definitely have to leave, after only two years in Forks.

"Don't really know there's any other option," said Jasper. "The other Volturi probably aren't gonna stop eatin' people, you know. And if the guard has to come, the wolves are all going to die, probably the entire tribe actually."

Edward looked at Jasper. Jasper shrugged. _It's a genetic adaptation, if Caius realizes it, he'll have them all slaughtered. _

"Enough of the wolves. Who is this new vampire?" asked Edward. He caught her mind - female, but her thoughts were so chaotic he couldn't catch anything else.

"Her name is Alice. She sees visions of the future," explained Carlisle. "Except that for some reason the werewolves block her." _And Jasper is apparently someone she's seen visions of since being turned._

"That's mighty strange. You think she'd be interested in joinin' up with us?" _Aro would kill to get a precog._

"Alice?" called Esme. Less than a minute later, a small female vampire with short spiky hair in a very fashionable outfit strolled out. Edward still couldn't really get a handle on her thoughts, but then, if she had visions of the future, she probably knew he could read minds and was trying to block him.

She grinned at Jasper as Esme introduced the two. "You've kept me waiting quite a while," she said in a coquettish tone. Not flirtatious, noted Edward, almost smiling.

"I do apologize, Miss Alice." He was staring at her like he'd never seen a woman before.

"Just Alice." They were both grinning, now. Jasper sometimes couldn't control his power, and he was giving off waves of bliss.

"Knock it off," muttered Edward without moving his lips. Louder, he asked, "So if you've been waiting all this time, why haven't you come to Jasper sooner?"

She turned her head to Edward for the first time. Her eyes were golden. "Even when you can see the future, it's hard to kill your sire."

And now, the blocks were gone. Images assaulted Edward, of her sire - a blond man called James - and his mate, Victoria. They had found her separately in 1920, at the asylum she had been committed to as a human. Victoria watched her for months, and realized she was not truly insane, but didn't want to turn her till she could get her out of the asylum without problems. The problem ended up being a tracker who found her scent almost as appealing as he found Bella's. Edward heard James and Victoria telling Alice the story, how they never met in person, only scented each other, till he found Alice, nearly turned, and Victoria, watching her writhing prize proudly. James would have killed any other vampire for taking his "tasty treat" away, but instead he and Victoria had sex nearly constantly till Alice "woke up."

After turning, Alice remembered nothing of her human life but what the two told her. And they wouldn't let her go. They used Alice to find other interesting hunts. He saw plenty of other things he'd rather not have, that James and Victoria forced her to do. Only images of Jasper kept her hope alive. She tried to run away of course, but the two always, always found her. And punished her. Finally she saw - or didn't see - Jasper and Edward, coming under the shadow of the wolves, and panicked. She put Victoria on the trail of an "interesting" hunt, and ran. Usually James waited for Victoria, but Alice had seen this time she demurred. "It's too easy, maybe getting her yourself will be a challenge." James knew that not making up his mind would prevent Alice from knowing exactly what he was doing, but she waited for him in an abandoned steel mill with a flamethrower.

Not much longer, she saw Victoria coming across the ashes, and enraged, ran to Alice. Who hadn't gone far. The fight was a bit more even, with her strange evasion power, but really, the flamethrower couldn't be evaded that well.

Edward saw all of this in a couple of seconds. "Holy crap," he said finally.

"I wish I'd killed my sire," Jasper told her, offering his arm as they walked back inside the house.


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

As soon as the supermarket opened, Edward decided to go shopping. Not that they were in need of anything the supermarket sold, but since they'd been out of town the past week, they really did need to make appearances, so they could pass as normal.

It was rather nice not wearing contacts, Edward thought for the umpteenth time, trying to convince himself that this vegetarian diet was the way to go. Really there were lots of reasons for it, and only one or two against it. But that whole burning thirst that was only slaked by human blood thing was a rather big reason.

As he waited in the checkout line, someone got in line a few people behind him, and he had to stop breathing. The scent of Bella Swan had that effect on him. He turned to glance at her. He really hadn't gotten a good look at her on the day they met. On the day he wanted to kill and eat her. He still wanted to kill and eat her. Even though he couldn't read her mind. Or maybe because of that? Hard to say.

She saw him and almost gasped. He tried smiling at her. She blushed to crimson, and he was so very glad he wasn't breathing at the moment. Blushes tended to push a scent out, and a stronger Bella-Swan-scent was the last thing he needed. He decided to just ignore her for now. Fortunately he was being checked out, and the clerk was a young male with blissfully stupid thoughts, about the television show he'd watched the previous night, about sneaking one of his dad's beers. The clerk didn't even pretend to ask him if he enjoyed his shopping experience. So he didn't need to speak, just smile and nod, and finally, finally it was over. He grabbed his bags and almost ran to the car.

Once outside he could breathe again. Almost without noticing, he tracked Bella's scent to her truck. That giant tomato thing. Why on earth was a high school girl driving that thing? He could see Jasper in it, after Jasper replaced the engine of course. He tried to date the truck precisely and figured it was about twenty years younger than he himself was. He supposed the police chief thought it was safe for his little girl, but really a modern car with seat belts and airbags would be just as safe, and cheaper to fill up.

"Not as sexy as your ride, I know."

Edward whirled around, remembering just in time that he _should not breathe._ Except he had to answer her now. "Yours?" One word would hopefully be sufficient.

She was blushing again! "Yeah, my dad got it from the Billy Black this summer. His daughters were sick of it, and his son's too young. Even though he's the one who kept it running."

"It's a classic. I bet Jasper would buy it off you."

"I wouldn't sell it!"

And now it was time. He thought he knew what to expect, but he still folded his arms across his chest and squeezed his opposite upper arms while he inhaled. _Oh Jesus Christ!_ As if he hadn't eaten in a month. His throat was burning, burning, and venom pooled into his mouth. He swallowed it down as best as he could. It all took less than a second, but she still seemed to be taken aback. "He'd give you a good price. You could replace it with something a lot faster."

"I happen to enjoy maxing out at fifty-five," she said slowly. Her heart rate was much faster. How the hell had she noticed him? "I really need to get this ice cream home, no offense."

And now she was trying to get away from him. Well, he couldn't complain about that. As it was, he was going to have to go hunting. "Have a good afternoon," he said in a cheery voice, waving as he walked back towards his car.

With her vehicle, she couldn't get away from him very fast, but it still did seem to him that she was moving as fast as she possibly could. This happened sometimes anyway, but normally only when he was trying to be - off-putting. And he was trying very hard to be normal. Of course there was that instant when he had to breathe, but it was only an instant, wasn't it? How could she have seen that?

He wished again that he could read her mind, and wondered why on earth he couldn't. He wondered if Eleazar could detect human's powers. As long as he'd worked for the Volturi, he knew that sometimes humans did have witch powers, as Alice had, but more often it was like his power or Jasper's, only present after turning.

Without thinking about it he drove south, then west, into the rainforest.

After he parked the car, he was shocked to smell the wet-dog scent he'd come to associate with the Quileute wolves. He swirled around and saw - a young man. Not, he noted, one of the three he'd seen last week. A new shapeshifter. How perfect.

"Hello, Black," he said aloud.

"Your scent was all over Bella's backyard," he announced without preamble. "You and your _friend_."

"Edward Masen. My friend is Jasper Whitlock. And I'm sure your alpha has told you we are both following the treaty," he said tiredly.

"Screw the treaty! Stay the hell away from Bella, understand?"

He held his hands up. "There was a new vampire in town, and I wasn't sure of her intentions. Believe me, I have less wish than you for Bella to be found dead."

"Not before you get a taste," he sneered. "You're not fooling me, leech. She - she's practically my sister." _She thinks of me like a brother. I wish she didn't._

"Don't worry, you can have a taste," chuckled Edward, and he got a slap in the face for his trouble.

"Just give me one reason!" he shouted. Edward was impressed. From all he'd heard and seen, this much emotion should definitely have switched the wolf over.

"Look, I drove out here to get some lunch. Can I just go have some lion in peace?" Without waiting for an answer, he started running.

As if on cue, he heard a strange noise, then a wolf howl, getting louder.

But no living creature could out-run Edward Masen. Everyone in Volterra had commented on it, how fast Edward was. He had to push it, but it wasn't so long before he lost the wolf. And almost accidentally he'd come upon a herd of deer. He didn't like herbivores as much as carnivores, but right now he couldn't be picky. He drained two deer quickly, then cleaned up and sighed.

Another damned werewolf! He couldn't believe it. They hadn't even been gone a week, and now there were five. Maybe even more, who knew. This Jacob Black was only concerned with making sure no harm was coming to Bella Swan. He must have panicked even more than Edward, smelling not only Alice but also Edward and Jasper in her backyard. Of course, unlike Edward, he had purposely gone over to Bella's, just to see if she was ok, and then scenting the vampires. He had an intense crush on the girl, and it was making him act like a pathetic stalker. His being a werewolf was a tribal secret, and he couldn't tell her, and while he was "new" he couldn't be around normal humans at all, since he might shift for any strong emotional feeling.

Fortunately the mutt was gone when he returned to his car. He drove back to the Cullens, texting Jasper on the way back (he didn't exactly want to interrupt him with a phone call): ANOTHER WOLF. I'LL BE BACK SOON.


	13. Chapter 12

**As promised, early Bella POV chapter!**

**Chapter 12**

Of course she saw him in the line at the supermarket. How could she not? The very sight of him made her blush - he was the most beautiful man she'd ever seen. Boy, that is. Getting information from Alice about Edward had been like pulling teeth, but she did concede that she thought he was turned before he was twenty. She thought he sort of resembled Carlisle, or even Jasper. Although not in a way that meant they were actually related. They were just the same _species._

It was hard to remember Alice's warning when she saw him, though. Despite his golden eyes, he had spent the last century killing people to drink their blood, and he wanted hers as well. Alice had no problem telling her that much, anyway. _Keep away from him, neither of you will be happy if you end up dead._

But he was smiling at her! She felt her face grow even hotter, and he seemed alarmed and turned away. He didn't look at her again, and she couldn't decide if she was glad about that or not. She could still check out his profile, at least. The only boys she'd ever really looked at were Quileutes, whom he didn't resemble at all except maybe in the jawline or cheekbones. He definitely had a masculine face. Jaw. Whatever.

The checkout clerk was scanning his groceries now. Bella couldn't help noticing that everything he bought was canned or dry – things he was probably going to donate, since he couldn't eat. It was funny how obvious it was, if you were looking. No one really liked eating canned potatoes, right? After he paid, he almost ran outside. Now that was weird. Unless he was running from her. She frowned at that thought, but if Alice was right, just being near her would drive him to want to murder her. She shivered at that thought. Such a strange thought, but nonetheless…

Alice had told her two contradictory things about Edward. One, that he wanted to drink her blood till she died. Two, that he would fall in love with her. It didn't make much sense, but Alice had won enough games of Yahtzee that Bella was inclined to believe it. And even if she hadn't, she had said Edward and Jasper would be back today, and here was Edward. She'd also sent Bella a photo of herself and Jasper just after she woke up. They were grinning to beat the band, and their shoulders were bare. The included text proclaimed "DON'T YOU NEED TO GO TO THE THRIFTY-WAY?"

And she went, and there was Edward.

"Seventeen twenty-two," announced the clerk, breaking her out of her reverie. She pulled out a twenty, got her change, then took her bags back out to her truck.

And once again, there was Edward. Staring at her truck. She couldn't see his expression, so she just called out, "Not as sexy as your ride, I know."

He spun around. Was he startled? Didn't he hear her coming? "Yours?"

God, he was so beautiful! She could feel the blush starting again. "Yeah, my dad got it from the Billy Black this summer. His daughters were sick of it, and his son's too young. Even though he's the one who kept it running."

"It's a classic. I bet Jasper would buy it off you."

Bella was appalled. "I wouldn't sell it!"

He suddenly looked at her like – like he hated her, actually. It was for less than a second, but it was still startling. "He'd give you a good price. You could replace it with something a lot faster."

Was he going to attack her now? She hoped not, there were lots of people around… "I happen to enjoy maxing out at fifty-five." She paused, then said, "I really need to get this ice cream home, no offense."

He smiled. Oh that smile. "Have a good afternoon," he said as he waved and walked away.

Bella unlocked her truck, threw the groceries in and started the engine. She couldn't really get away fast, but she was trying. _He's not going to eat me, he's _not_ going to eat me_, she repeated in her head, all the way back home. As she past his house, she noted his car was still not back. Was he going to go – eat someone else? She swallowed.

Suddenly she remembered one of the things Becky had mentioned, about the Cullens. Most of the "cold ones" had red eyes, because they drank blood, but Carlisle and his coven ate animals, so they had golden eyes. And Edward had had golden eyes today. Alice did say he was trying to not eat people, but there was the proof. She felt a lot more relaxed now, but…

She called Jacob again. No answer. She wasn't sure what Jacob could do about a vampire trying to eat her, but he was here, at least. She tried Rachel, who picked up.

"Hey Bella, what's up?"

"Two more vampires have moved into town," she said.

"Oh, great," she moaned. "I wonder if that's what's going on with Paul and Leah?"

"What do you mean?"

"Eh, Dad was always iffy about telling us kids, but apparently there's some kind of tribal magic that's supposed to fight the Cold Ones. But it's supposed to be a secret of the tribal elders. Maybe they got initiated, though."

Bella's heart sped up. "Jake's been acting really weird. Your dad said he was sick all week, and last night he didn't want me to come over, he said it wasn't a good time."

"Maybe that's it," she said doubtfully. "But Jake's really young, I can't see them doing that shit with him already."

"But you think that's what happened with Paul and Leah?"

Rachel made a weird noise. "I wouldn't have thought it till you brought it up, because the stupid sexist tribal elders are always _men_, so Leah normally wouldn't have been allowed to know. I mean, at first I kept telling her it was probably that, and she kept saying it was bullshit and she had a right, Paul was her fiancé, what if it was just an excuse, blah blah blah. But if it was the tribal magic stuff, like I said, they wouldn't have told her or let her initiate or whatever. I thought it was till she got into it."

"But maybe she figured it out on her own, and they had to tell her?"

"Maybe. But, hey, no offense Bella, they really can't tell you. If that's what it is, if they can't even tell girls of the tribe…"

"Yeah, I get it," said Bella bitterly. "I'm a paleface."

"Hey, I'm _not_ and I don't get to know either. It sucks but there it is."

"This might be an extenuating circumstance," she said slowly. "These two vampires aren't like the Cullens, and they're living on my street."

"You mean they – they eat people?"

"I think so. I mean, one of them had golden eyes but the other had contacts in," she fibbed. "At least he must have."

"You're sure they're not just really pale humans?"

She ignored this question. "I wish Jake would talk to me at least!" She didn't really have to fake her concern there. "Even if he can't tell me anything, at least I could tell him, and maybe they could protect me."

Rachel sighed. "According to the treaty, if they're actually eating people, it's only if they cross the boundary lines that our people can interfere. Otherwise it's up to the Cullens."

"But the Cullens, um, don't know that I know."

"Well, look, I'll try to talk to my stupid brother. If he says he can't do anything, you'll have to talk to them, ok?"

Bella sighed. "Yeah, I guess."

They hung up. Bella finished putting away the groceries, except for the ones she was using to make lasagna. It was comforting, brainless work. She chopped onions and garlic then browned them with the meat. She made a béchamel sauce for alternating layers. During this cooking she boiled the noodles – the package said you didn't need to, but she wanted to this time. Finally she grated the mozzarella. She was just putting the lasagna in when the phone rang.

It was Rachel. "So Jake says he's going to come by later, but he wanted me to assure you that he would never let anything bad happen to you."

"And did he say he would actually be able to uh, stop these bad things?" Charlie was in the front room watching a basketball game.

"Well, he didn't say anything really, just laughed in a, well, sort of a you-silly-girls laugh, like we were worrying for no reason, you know? And that you really had nothing to fear."

"Well that's good to hear," said Bella. And it was. Rachel was being sincere, as was Jacob. It was all going to be all right.


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

It was drizzling, the sort of rain you got if you were moving slowly up in a big cloud. It was always raining in Forks. Sometimes Bella wished she'd followed Renee out of state. Of course, if she had, Renee wouldn't have moved all over the country. She probably would have just picked one place. Probably would have never have met her new husband with a toddler in tow.

Even though it was raining, Jake was walking. Well, he really wasn't old enough to drive, anyway. He was still working on that VW thing, anyway, it didn't run yet. But he usually at least rode a bike.

Bella was expecting Jacob, but at first when she saw him walking in the rain she thought it couldn't be him. And as he got closer, she was more and more convinced that it was some other Quileute, but finally he came up to the front door in cutoffs and nothing else. And he was huge. He'd already been almost her height the last time she saw him, not that long ago really. Now he was taller than her, taller than Charlie, almost taller than Emmett Cullen. Almost bigger than him, too! She remembered the twins talking about Sam just after the Cullens moved to town, how he'd shot up that summer so fast. She wouldn't have thought they meant two weeks, though.

"Hey Bella," he said when she let him in. His voice was still the same at least, but...

She stared at his bare chest. He really looked like he was a stunt double for Arnold. Well, not that bad. She never really liked big muscles on men, and his chest wasn't so sculpted it was repulsive. Actually it was... attractive. He looked a lot older now, too.

"Hey, up here," he said, waving his hand in her face. She blushed and looked up at his face. _So_ that's_ what a shit-eating grin is._

"Aren't you cold?" she burst out, trying to cover. "It's raining."

"Man, you white people are _good_ with weather," he said with a sense of amazement, then couldn't help it and cracked up.

"Yeah, we also invented shoes," she said, rolling her eyes. "Whatever, I'm sure it has to do with whatever Rachel called you about."

"Yeah," sighed Jacob. "She called me and yelled at me."

"She said you wouldn't tell her what what going on."

"She said that?" He sounded annoyed. "I can't tell her, and I can't tell you."

"Because we're girls."

He laughed. "Leah knows. No... um... shit. Well, to be honest, it's ... something I've inherited."

"You inherited and not your sisters?"

"I dunno, they might have, but they left town already so I don't know."

Bella frowned. "You're not making any sense."

Sighing, he squeezed his forehead. "What did Rachel tell you, anyway?"

"She didn't tell me anything! Just said it was some tribal magic shit and you were sworn to secrecy!"

He finally sat down on the sofa, still dripping. "I guess that's a good way of putting it. But uh, I was magically sworn. As in, I literally cannot tell you anything. Get it?"

Her jaw dropped. "You mean it really is magic?"

He barked a laugh. "Bella, you go to high school with _vampires_. You _met_ a vampire in Italy. Who told you he could _magically_ find people. Except not you, because you _magically_ block him."

"It was Croatia, not Italy." She felt light-headed. Slowly she sat next to him. "I dunno, it's just, well, that happened, and then the Cullens, and - I was used to it."

"And your new neighbors are vampires too."

"Yeah." She hesitated. She hadn't told Rachel about Alice. "And they never signed a treaty saying they wouldn't bite a human."

"They sure didn't. And I gotta tell you that the treaty holds if they stay over in Forks. Even if they do eat people. We won't kill them unless they cross the lines." He cringed for a second, but at Bella's confused look he smiled again. "But like I told Rach, I'll protect you."

"With magic?"

"Best way to kill the bloodsuckers."

Bella frowned. "You can't just put a stake in their hearts?"

"You watch too much Buffy," he snorted. "Wood wouldn't hurt 'em."

"But you can't tell me what kind of magic would hurt them, because of your uh, magic oath?"

"Well, fire can always hurt them. They burn way faster than humans do, I hear," he said, tapping his chin.

This was too weird. Edward was either going to eat her or fall in love with her in the next few years, if Jacob didn't kill him first. Or maybe he'd kill Jacob? That thought made her shiver.

Jacob noticed. "Oh, dammit. I'm sorry. I'm totally freaking you out." He tentatively put a hand on her shoulder. She drew in for a hug. He squeezed her pretty tightly, and she noticed that he'd already dried off somehow. Probably from the inside; he felt like a furnace.

"Jesus, Jake." She pulled back and put her hand on his forehead. "You're burning up."

He took her hand off while he shook his head. "Nah, it's part of the whole -" He appeared to be choking for a couple seconds, then shook his head again harder. "Inherited tribal magic. Gah. Magic commands are really the least fun part, I gotta tell ya Bells."

She decided something. "I saw one of them at the Thriftyway. I think his name is Edward?"

"He followed you to the grocery? That bastard!" He stood up and let out a loud yell, grabbing his hair, cursing even more inbetween calling Edward a leech and bloodsucker. Then he ran out the door.

"Jake? What?" She followed him outside - he'd ran out behind the house and into the woods, and his legs were far longer than hers. She was outpaced in no time.

But right on the edge of the forest, she saw the pair of cut-off jeans he'd been wearing.

"So. It's naked magic," she said aloud.

Then she saw the wolf and screamed.

It ran right past her, coming almost a yard from her. She kept screaming. It had to be a wolf, except that it was the size of a bear. It went past her, at least, further into the woods. She stopped screaming for a minute, and it was still gone, so she kept on not screaming. But she ran inside.

The adrenaline rush was still hitting her. She wished her dad smoked. Instead she went for a Rainier. As she sipped it, it hit her. She felt like an idiot. Jacob had gotten angry about Edward - maybe he suspected something about the vampire's desire for her blood? - and ran outside, took off his clothes, and then a big wolf was running in the forest. A wolf bigger than any other wolf alive. A wolf with dark shaggy fur, in fact.

She decided to test her theory and picked up the phone.

"Black residence," said a familiar voice.

"Holy crow, can you run fast or what, Jake?"


	15. Chapter 14

**I made a banner: http:/ **farm8 . staticflickr** . com / 7026/ 6392164149_**e3cfdde4fe . jpg****

**Chapter 14**

If there was one thing Edward knew he wasn't good at, it was strategy. That was why he and Jasper were so often paired for these missions. If they hadn't scented Alice, right now they'd both be finalizing the plan for attacking the wolves. The four wolves all had different last names, so hopefully they all lived in separate dwellings. Edward would be looking up their addresses, and Jasper would pin the locales on a map, analyzing the best way to ambush each one. The worst case scenario, Jasper had pointed out, would be if they figured out what was going on immediately after the first kidnapping and death. After all, the wolves had found them at the gas station during the amount of time it had taken them to fill up. So grabbing two of them in their sleep and locking them in some kind of meat locker would be best. Even though the wolves were hardier than humans, they'd still eventually freeze or starve to death. And then taking the last two down would be a piece of cake.

Instead, they scented Alice, followed her to the Cullens, and she was now Jasper's mate. In some ways this was good - he certainly wished Jasper all happiness, and he probably wouldn't have encountered Bella, then Black, otherwise. If they hadn't known that there was another wolf and gone in blind - well, three wolves would probably still be taken down easily enough, but what if there were more? Black had only thought of himself when he'd been thinking of rending Edward limb from limb, not even of any of the other pack Edward knew of.

Too many variables, now.

He sighed, and dialed a number.

"Volterra Tours," chirped Gianna.

"It's Edward Masen," he said in Italian. "Could you quietly tell Aro I need to speak with him? Just him."

"I understand perfectly," she said smoothly. "Hold please."

It took about ten minutes. Edward guessed she was actually going to physically approach Aro. Or perhaps get Chelsea or Santiago or someone to do it. At any rate, it took a while.

"Problem number one, Jasper met his mate today," he said.

Aro laughed in that high-pitched way that Edward found pretentious and affected. "How wonderful for him!"

"She's - well, she's with the Cullens. Living there and - sharing meals," he said meaningfully.

"With Carlisle?"

"Yes, of course." Although it would be faster if they could touch, Edward was rather glad he wasn't able to read Aro's mind right now. His thoughts about Carlisle could get... erratic. "So they're together right now, you'll understand I didn't want to interrupt anything."

"No, no, of course not. But do you think she will - not allow him to - that he'll break off from us?"

Edward hadn't even considered that. "It's possible." Alice seemed to have no love lost for the Volturi. Jasper had been saved from Maria with their help, but Alice's makers hadn't broken any laws apparently. Even if Alice did meet Chelsea, she couldn't create bonds of loyalty out of nothing. Right now Alice's loyalty was to Jasper, full stop. Perhaps to the Cullens for taking her in. Chelsea could easily snip that, of course; she'd done the same thing to him, so he wouldn't miss Carlisle and Esme so much.

He didn't mention Alice's abilities right now; if Aro heard she could see the future, even an imperfect future hinging on people's decisions, he would force her to join. Edward didn't want Jasper to leave, but felt that it was his choice. Aro wouldn't see it the same way. "But you may have guessed that we have other issues."

"Yes, of course, the wolves. I'm afraid that Caius was so infuriated that he left immediately after your phone call. He hasn't yet returned. What exactly happened? Did you see them during the full moon? Have you figured out who they really are?"

Edward's jaw dropped. "You didn't even touch him?"

"To be frank, he became egregiously violent before he ran from our compound. I must admit I had rather a concern for my safety, even with Renata there."

"Well. These are not anything like the Children of the Moon. Not at all." Edward explained everything he knew from Carlisle and his own observations. "When we arrived there were only four. Now there's another."

"So five?"

"There may be more," Edward admitted. "I encountered the new one by himself in his human form, and he threatened me then phased." Edward realized he sounded like a total coward. He probably could have killed Black, but he wasn't such a fan of even odds. "As I mentioned, when they're in wolf form they can communicate telepathically with each other."

"This is rather fascinating!" Aro enthused. "And right now you've a treaty with them?"

"Carlisle signed one with their ancestors, in the late thirties," he confirmed. "He managed to convince them that Jasper and I would abide by it. Which more or less comes down to not biting any humans in their lands, and they won't kill us."

Aro chuckled. "Only Carlisle would dream of a truce with werewolves!"

"So initially," he continued, "Jasper didn't want to start anything we couldn't be sure of winning. But if vampire presence really is what activates the wolf shift, there's going to be more and more of them."

"From what you say, they've been shifting to and fro for centuries, yes?"

"According to their legends, yes. Who knows how accurate they are."

"Nonetheless, the fact remains that people think they are merely legends."

"Yes, the one I recently encountered was thinking of a local girl, and how he wished he could tell her," Edward recalled.

"Mmmm. I will talk to Caius, but for now I feel patience is the virtue. Let them think you are keeping the treaty. Unless you can figure out a way to get Carlisle's coven to attack," he said in an ironic tone.

"That's not likely," he agreed. "Carlisle's convinced that if even just Jasper and I break the treaty, they'll have to leave as well."

"What was your original plan?"

He explained it.

"That may have worked if you hadn't waited till there were more than four," mused Aro. "Or if Carlisle would have at the least given you psychotropic drugs. Oh well. I still think you ought to wait for them to make a mistake first. Carlisle can't stay neutral when that happens. And the young ones will make mistakes eventually."

"What about Caius?"

"Caius will understand."

"Um." Edward hesitated. "It doesn't really sound like he's in the mood to be understanding. He's been gone a week?"

"Demetri can find him," he chuckled. "He's still in Europe, at any rate."

"So you don't think I should provoke this wolf I met today?"

"The one who accused you of trying to eat the local girl? Why on earth would you provoke him?"

Edward drew a blank. Why _had_ he thought of this? "Well, if I could get one to break the treaty, the Cullens might side with us."

"Something to discuss with Jasper, I suppose, but for now I think he'd agree with me."

"Yes, he probably would," agreed Edward.

"Please do give my regards to Carlisle," finished Aro before hanging up.

15222


	16. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Edward didn't like lying to Aro. Although most people didn't consider keeping things back "lying", there was no point in making such a distinction when it came to Aro. Aro could see what you kept back the second he touched you. And the second he touched Edward, he'd see that Edward kept back Alice's abilities, and Bella's. Not that being immune to Edward was that much of an ability. He wondered idly if Bella would also be immune to Aro himself? Or Demetri? Or Jane? Probably not. She was probably just immune to him.

He hadn't told him about her at all, because he knew that as soon as he told one of the three "I've met my singer," they'd ask why he didn't eat the singer the second he smelled him/her. "Because I thought he was the police chief," he would have said, and they would have replied, "Good. Keep not eating the police chief." Even if he'd explained everything, they still would have kept to the "eating relatives of people in law enforcement is bad" policy. Which was, after all, why Bella was still alive. That, and he tried really hard not to breathe around her. Since he lived on her street, that meant he spent a lot of time not breathing.

There was a knock on the door. When he opened it, there was no one there, but a note.

_Dear bloodsucker,_

_Bella told me you met her at the grocery. That's twice now I've caught you stalking her. There won't be a third._

_Love,_

_Your mortal enemy_

The note, of course, reeked of werewolf. Specifically, the one he'd met earlier. Jacob Black. He snorted. He had more important things to worry about right now.

He called up the Cullen's main line. "I know this is terribly rude, but I really do need to speak to Jasper. I suppose it would be easiest if I just came over again?"

A few minutes later he blazed across the river in his car, and parked in the Cullen's garage. He admired the Mercedes and BMW for a minute, then Jasper came into his view, adjusting his shirt.

"This better be important," he muttered.

"Have you forgotten that we have a job to do? We didn't come here just so you could screw your way up the Pacific Coast!" he hissed.

"First of all, it would be down the coast. Secondly, I'm pretty much settled on this lovely lady Alice for – for the rest of my life, really." He sounded bemused, and wasn't bothering not to disguise his thoughts, which were almost totally of naked Alice.

"I decided to go to the supermarket," he began, and told of meeting Isabella Swan, and therefore wanting to hunt, and finally meeting Jacob Black. He finished by showing him the note.

Jasper laughed when he read it. "So very sweet of him."

"Laugh it up, cretin. Aro wants us to hold off on any offensive."

"What?" He was totally taken aback. "Just because there's one extra wolf?"

"There may be more," he pointed out. "We were gone, we don't know. And if we interact with any of the tribe, more of them may change."

Jasper groaned. _And Alice can't see the wolves._

"Oh, is that what it is?"

"We think so," announced Alice, who finally joined them in the garage. Jasper grinned at her and swooped in for a kiss.

"Enough of that," snapped Edward. "So you can't see the wolves? Because they don't decide to phase, do you think that's why?"

"That's as good a theory as any," she shrugged. "Or maybe it's just their magic. It's not like changing into a giant wolf is logical."

"True, but then again, vampires exist," Edward said dryly.

"Anyways," said Jasper, "as lovely as Miss Alice is, she can't help us against the wolves."

"By the way, Alice, I haven't told Aro you exist yet."

"Why not?" she asked, then froze, seeing a vision of what would happen if Aro knew she existed. "Oh. Thank you, Edward," she said softly.

"He was wondering, Jasper, if you were going to quit the guard now."

Jasper looked at Alice. Alice gazed back at him adoringly. The two of them seemed to be aware of nothing else. "I'll finish our job here, then make a decision," he said finally, never taking his eyes away from her.

Edward wondered if it was possible for vampires to puke.

"OK, OK," grumbled Jasper, feeling Edward's disgust. "Darlin', as soon as all this is over with, I swear to you we'll take a nice vay-cay wherever you like."

"Meaning for now, I stay at the Cullens and you stay with Edward." She frowned.

Edward sighed. "Look, it makes more sense if I stay here and you two stay there." At least he hoped it did. Surely the Cullens weren't going to be as – athletic – as newly mated vampires would be? He could talk to the Cullens at least. He didn't mind meeting them initially, although he still couldn't stand Rosalie and the feeling still appeared to be mutual. He didn't have the same affection for Carlisle and Esme of course, but he remembered always enjoying their company.

"First, I'm gonna go get a car, and a cell phone," said Jasper. "Wanna come with, doll?"

"Of course," squealed Alice as she hopped piggy-back onto him. They ran off almost too fast to see. At least, too fast if you happened to be looking in any other direction than south, the direction they were running.

Edward snorted and hoped he wouldn't be so ridiculous when he found his own mate.

In the meantime, he drove back to get his laptop and a few other possessions that he'd need.

When he got back, Esme and Carlisle showed him around, and gave him "Alice's" room. One wall of it was entirely glass. And downstairs was a grand piano, which was secretly part of the reason he'd suggested moving in here. One of the first pieces he'd composed was a song for Esme – it had been over sixty years since he'd played it, but a vampire never forgets. He ran through the notes in his head, played a few scales, and went for it. Esme and Carlisle clapped vigorously when he finished.

"You wrote that for me!" Esme said in delight.

Edward nodded. The joy Esme felt would have been contagious to anyone, let alone Edward. While he couldn't forget things that had happened, he had forgotten the feelings attached to those events. "I haven't played it since I left," he said. And again, there was little feeling attached to the fact that he had left. There must have been, once, tears and recriminations, but he couldn't recall. It was almost like playing the song for the first time.

Carlisle had stopped smiling, though. "Chelsea?" He was thinking about what Chelsea did for the Volturi.

Esme didn't understand, nor did Edward. "I've met her, yes. She makes it possible for all of us to co-exist. Vampires don't normally form group bonds."

"Unless they feed on animals," said Esme slowly. _Oh, Edward. Poor boy._

"Look, just because I can read your mind doesn't mean I understand what you're thinking," he protested. "I just don't remember emotions very well."

"Do you remember the first time you met Rosalie?"

He did. He'd come back to the family for a short time, fully intending to return to the Volturi, and Carlisle came across a dying girl in the snow. He turned her, hoping she'd appeal to Edward, but unfortunately as soon as she finished turning, they hated each other on sight. He snarled just thinking about it.

"See, you do remember emotions," said Carlisle sadly. "Only negative ones, though. Chelsea can't do anything about those, only positive ones."

"Chelsea doesn't erase positive emotions," he protested. "She cuts relationships, or builds them. Like I said, without her help the Volturi would all be at each others' throats all the time. So to speak."

"We fought for weeks before you left," Carlisle said quietly.

Edward stopped. Carlisle was _right_. They _had_ fought. He remembered the fighting perfectly. But the importance of the fighting, the reason for it, seemed impenetrable. Why would he be yelling at Carlisle? And afterwards, he remembered just sitting and staring for hours. Was he that upset? Really? It didn't make any sense.

"She sees relationships – well, no, seeing is the wrong word. Marcus sees them. She only feels them. She feels relationships like threads. She can strengthen them, or – or cut them," Edward stuttered.

"But only positive ones. That's why you still feel the same way about Rose, but not us," finished Carlisle.

Edward didn't know what to say. In his memories he saw himself acting a certain way. A happy way. Then a jealous way. Then the fights over souls and hell and damnation. The memories didn't make sense, so he never thought about them. But – if he layered the feelings over them, the attachment and love that he must have felt for the Cullens – why then, they made perfect sense. Unfortunately, those bonds had been destroyed over half a century ago. "I'm sorry, but –"

"I understand," said Carlisle again. "You just don't have the feelings anymore."

"Maybe I can build them up again?" He looked at Esme. He could have sworn, behind her sad smile, tears were brimming in her eyes.


	17. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Bella hung up the phone with a sigh. So, Jacob was a werewolf, along with the rest of Sam's posse, and they were supposed to kill vampires. He had reiterated that the Cullens specifically weren't supposed to be dangerous, but if they allied with these new ones? It would be disaster.

And in fact, he apologized for his going to her place. He thought he'd had it under control, but "just thinking about that bloodsucker" had been enough to set him off. It was too dangerous, he insisted, for the two of them to be friends till he had more control. That would take time. In general, she had best just avoid the rez till Sam deemed them safe.

She was most shocked to hear that Sam and Leah had both turned into werewolves. It was the presence of vampires that made them activate, and Leah had followed Sam out one too many times. A random vampire had almost killed her, apparently, and less than an hour after it touched her, she phased. Of course Sam and Jared and Paul had killed the leech before it even tried to bite her, but it appeared Leah's touching it was enough to trigger the change.

And less than two weeks after these new vampires came to town, two more Quileutes had phased: Jake and Embry. That was why he'd been harsh with her – it truly wasn't safe for him to be around her.

"My life," thought Bella, "has been so weird."

Fortunately, Jake had no problem talking to her on the phone, and they spoke every night after finishing homework. (He was doing home courses till the phasing was under control, along with Embry.) She listened to Jessica's silly gossip during lunch, which was about how the two "hot gays" had returned after going back to Canada for a week, "my mom told me so."

Except that the car was in fact not back. She had seen Edward, and someone else said they saw Jasper signing for a package from UPS, but the car wasn't back.

Also, also, Alice had stopped coming over.

Well, she figured that was more because of Jasper than anything else. She was probably trying to convince him that they were meant to be together. Bella figured that would probably take up most of her time.

That was fine till Thursday, when she was driving home from school and she saw Alice. Outside the house. Holding hands with Jasper.

She slammed on her brakes and skidded almost out of control, but she had enough sense to let her foot off the brake again. "Stupid truck", she muttered before finally stopping.

Alice and Jasper seemed oblivious to all but each other, so Bella had to walk over to them.

"Uh, hi guys."

They finally turned to her. Jasper and Alice both had those golden butterscotch eyes now. She wondered what caused that. "Hello Miss Bella," said Jasper. "This is Alice, Edward's cousin."

Her head whipped to Alice in shock. Alice was giving her a "play along" look. "It's so nice to meet you, Bella," she said, sounding for the life of her like she'd never met her before.

"N-nice to meet you too," she replied, not even pretending to want to shake her hand.

"Would you mind, Jasper..."

Jasper smiled and kissed her hand. "I'll be inside."

They gazed at each other till he was out of sight.

"What the hell, Alice -" Bella started, but she gasped as Alice grabbed her arm and pulled her back into her truck. Alice pulled out a notebook and pen and started writing. When she finished, she gave Bella the pen and the notebook.

_There's only one rule, and that's to keep the secret. You are not supposed to know. If he knew you knew, he would have absolutely no compunctions about killing you._

"But – but -"

"PEN!"

Bella gulped and started writing. She was much slower and messier than Alice.

_But lots of people know, like the Quileutes. I've talked to them about... about the Cullens. Did you know they can turn into werewolves?_

"I learned this weekend," she said softly. She then wrote again, _Edward and Jasper were forming a plan to kill them till their bosses told them to wait._

"Oh my God!" wailed Bella.

_Vampire hearing is very acute, which is why we're writing this instead of talking. You can't let either of them know you know about them, do you understand?_

Dumbly she nodded. Alice nodded back. _The wolves are what block my vision, but I still – usually – see us becoming friends. It'll be a while, though. I'm sorry. I'll call you when I can. I'm staying with Jasper now._

_What about Edward? _She couldn't help writing.

"He's staying with the Cullens." Apparently that was ok for Bella to know. The next part, though... _Carlisle Cullen is the one who sired him. He was dying of the flu when he was 17. His mother asked Dr. Cullen to save him. She was delirious and he thought she somehow knew... so he turned him._

Bella was too shocked to write anything. "They – they know each other!" More than knew. Bella couldn't believe it. _Why is he with Jasper instead of them?_

_He left after Carlisle turned Esme. He wasn't comfortable being the odd man out._

"Didn't he..." Bella couldn't understand it. Emmett and Rose and Mr. and Dr. Cullen were such a perfect family, how could Edward have left it?

_You know that vampires drink blood to survive? _At her nod, Alice continued. _Carlisle taught Edward to feed only on the blood of animals, and the rest of his family as well. Edward rebelled against this for a while._

Oh. Right. _Edward and Jasper eat humans?_

_Not anymore. Not while they're here, at least. If you see a vampire that doesn't have golden eyes, run, because they drink human blood. Animal blood makes our eyes like this. Black eyes mean we're thirsty._

Bella paused._ But you told me that Edward craves my blood specifically._

_That's part of why he's with the Cullens right now. The other part is to give Jasper and me privacy. Which, I'd better get back to him. I'll call you when I can, Bella._

And with that she jumped out of the truck before Bella even was aware she was gone.

Bella took a deep breath, re-reading everything Alice wrote, before she pulled a book of matches out of her glove compartment, and setting fire to her words. As she did so, she remembered one of the things Jacob told her:

_"Werewolf claws and teeth are pretty much the only thing that can tear apart vampires, but the only thing that can destroy them permanently is fire."_


	18. Chapter 17

_**On 12/15 I completed moving everything I own out of my apartment into a 2BR about ten miles east, along with my boyfriend. We'd lived in the same place for the past 7 years. I caught a cold from exhaustion. So, here we go.**_

_Chapter 17_

Edward heard a familiar skid - brakes slamming on an old Chevy truck - and ran as fast as he could to the origin of the sound. It was Bella's truck, and it was fine. She was fine.

She was talking to Alice. Except they weren't talking, probably because Alice didn't want anyone - meaning Jasper, but he was excluded as well - to hear. All he heard was Bella exclaim, "They knew each other!" and the scritching of pen on paper. She said one more thing, asking "Didn't he..." before she trailed off. There was absolutely no way of knowing what they were writing about now, it was rather difficult to hear what someone wrote if you couldn't even see their arms moving in the shapes of letters. But what could Alice and Bella be talking about besides him?

Now that was foolish. And a bit egomaniacal. He chuckled to himself as he smelled the paper burning. No, not just him. Burning the written record? His power didn't work on Alice this far away - it never worked on strangers except within spitting distance - so he ran back to Jasper's, just as Alice was about to shut the door again.

"Hello, Edward," sighed Alice.

"As if you didn't see me coming."

"I didn't, not till you decided to." She rolled her eyes at him. "Precognition isn't as easy as the movies make it seem."

Edward was confused. "You can't see things unless people decide to do them?"

"Well, it isn't as straightforward as that," she admitted. "I tend to see the different paths leading from different choices, and each path has a certain - saturation, you could call it. The more likely the person is to make that choice, the more intensely saturated it is. And the visions don't exactly just come over me unless it's something that affects me. In this case, I did see you coming, but not till I was about to open the door here. And since it was absolutely one-hundred-percent certain that you were going to confront me, I saw you confronting me in very bright colors. The vision totally took over my sight a split second before you actually got here."

Edward was a bit speechless. "Wow."

She smiled. "Want to watch me have one?"

"Not at the moment. I came to ask what you and Bella were talking about that you were so afraid of you made her burn the paper afterwards."

"Aw, shit," she cringed. _If only I'd just asked her to do it at home, he wouldn't have gotten suspicious. _"How long were you spying on her?"

"I heard her brakes squeal. They really ought to be fixed. If she got in an accident and I smelled her blood..." He shuddered.

Alice laughed, like crystals chiming. "No, silly, not this time. How many days have you been spying on her?"

"I'm not spying on her!" he protested. "Like I said, if she starts bleeding, I'm going to blow our cover! I can't let that happen!"

She nodded slowly. "So, since you got back from Alaska, then?"

"Spying makes it sound like I've been watching her," he finally huffed. "I don't go out of my way or anything. But if I scent her at all, I have to make sure that she's all right. And yes, pretty much since we got back. Now. What can you tell me?"

Alice put her head in her hands and rubbed her eyes. He was trying to avoid reading her mind, but he kept getting flashes from what he assumed must have been her visions. Mostly Jasper naked, to his chagrin and horror. After a few seconds she picked her head up and said, "When Bella was twelve, she and her mom met a vampire. In Croatia."

Edward didn't get it at first, but then he said slowly, "He told them?"

"Just Bella."

A vampire told Bella that he was a vampire. "I have to find out who it was."

"Edward! That's not what matters."

He pinched the bridge of his nose. "No, just that she saw the Cullens when they moved here and put two and two together. And now us, huh?"

All of a sudden Alice was looking at the floor, and in her memory he saw Bella talking to Alice, _Does this mean they're vampires too?_ and Alice's nod.

"Alice!" he thundered.

"What was I supposed to do? She already knew about the Cullens and me!"

"You didn't have to confirm it!" he yelled.

Jasper suddenly appeared behind Alice, clad in a thankfully large T-shirt and nothing else but a frown. "What's all this yelling about?"

He pointed at Alice. "_She_ let it slip to Bella Swan that we're all _vampires_," he hissed.

Jasper's face fell. "Babe, why did you do such a silly thing?"

"Because she already knew about the Cullens," sighed Alice.

"Did the Quileutes tell her?"

"Apparently a European vampire let out the secret," said Edward, also frowning.

"Five years ago," Alice repeated. "I think she's going to keep her mouth shut."

Jasper shrugged. "What do you think?"

"I think I'm going to fix the poor girl's brakes tonight. Lord knows we can't have her crushing herself in a car accident."

At that, Jasper chuckled. "If that behemoth hit someone, someone else would be dyin'," he pointed out, to which Edward scowled and turned on his heel.

"Don't tell anyone about Bella knowing," he warned on his way out.

_No shit,_ thought Jasper as Edward ran back to the Cullens.

It was strange, he thought, how vampire memory worked. He had asked Carlisle if he'd done any MRIs on vampire brains, but apparently the venom didn't allow such things. Still, however it worked, he had perfect recall of anything that ever happened since his turning, but all the memories were filed away until he tried to actually recall it. So even though now he remembered how, after Carlisle turned him, he had a lot of free time, this week had come as a surprise.

That was to say, after feeding on animals, he felt sort of bored, and wanted something to fill up the time. This just didn't happen when one fed on humans. At least, not the way Edward did it. He tended to stalk a murderer or rapist or some other scum for about four to seven days before killing him, and that really did take up a bit of time. With animals, though, he couldn't read their minds anymore than he could Bella's. So there was no point in picking one out, and stalking them took hours at most instead of days.

Playing the piano took up a bit of time, as did reading and watching movies and television shows that he hadn't seen. Although he read about twenty pages a second, and could watch shows at 20x speed as well, so, as he was forced to admit to Alice, some of his time was spent making sure Isabella Swan wasn't getting herself injured. And, if he had to be honest, part of it was inuring himself to her scent. It still burned so much worse than any other human's, but the odd thing was, he was sort of starting to like it.

Well, not like it, as such. No one could like pain, but one could become accustomed to it. Get used to it. Notice only when it isn't there, rather than when it is.

He was not yet able to understand what that meant, however.


	19. Chapter 18

**_Chapter 18_**

Bella was shocked beyond belief when she started her truck Friday morning. It usually took a couple of tries before it turned over, but this time it started immediately, and purred like a kitten. She thought about it for a minute, then smiled and sent a text to Jake: _My truck's running great!_

He texted back: _There's a first._

_Seriously, thanks._

By the time she got to school, he'd replied: _What exactly are you thanking me for here, Bells?_

_Um. Tuning up my truck? It wasn't running like this yesterday. I assumed you fixed it while I was asleep._

Almost immediately she got a reply: _Go to your first class **right NOW**._

She swallowed, feeling more than a little freaked out. For if Jacob hadn't fixed her truck, who had?

Edward had said something about Jasper wanting to buy it, but surely that couldn't mean...

Just before the first bell rang, she got another text from Jacob. _It was the bloodsucker. The redhead guy._

She swallowed and turned off her phone's volume. _Are you sure?_

_Completely._

Great. A cute vampire wanted to eat her and - fixed her truck.

Well, when you put it that way, it didn't sound _quite_ so bad.

At lunch she hesitated before approaching the Cullen table.

"Um, hey, Rosalie?"

The gorgeous blond turned slowly at stared at her. "What?" she said in a bored tone.

Bella swallowed. "I uh, figure this is a long shot, but Edward hasn't been at home all week, and uh, I was wondering if you knew where he was?"

Emmett was giving her a huge grin and fighting back laughter. Rosalie sighed. "Yes, he's staying with us. Do you actually need something?"

"Uh, no, I just wanted to know if you could tell him thanks for fixing my truck."

At that they both sat up stark straight. "You asked him to fix your truck?" she hissed. _Like a snake, or something else with fangs..._

Bella shuddered. "God, no, he just went ahead! I swear I never asked him to!"

Rosalie appeared to relax, although Emmett didn't, and he never looked more like a predator than in that minute. "Well I'll be sure to let him now," she said, again in that bored voice.

Bella nodded frantically, saying, "Ok, thanks!" and scurrying off to her usual table.

Jessica looked at her funny. "What was that?"

"Uh, I had a problem with my truck and I asked Emmett if he could help."

"Jesus, that guy creeps me out," complained Mike. "You are brave, Swan."

Bella tried not to laugh manically.

:‾:·:‾:·:‾:·:‾:·:‾:·:‾:·:‾:·:‾:·:‾:·:‾:·:‾:·:‾:

As soon as the Swan girl sat back down at her own table, Rose and Emmett looked at each other. "He fixed her damn truck," she hissed, too fast for humans to hear.

"Yeah. And probably overnight." Emmett had, at Rose's request, been discreetly following Edward around at night, since neither of them really were convinced he was staying "vegetarian," but all he seemed to do was, well, stalk Isabella Swan. He was mostly careful never to be very near her, but Emmett had definitely recognized that smell that appeared wherever Edward went. Faint enough at first, it took three nights before Emmett confirmed to Rose and Carlisle what the common thread in Edward's nighttime activities was.

So, after they drove home from school, they immediately confronted Edward, who was playing the piano.

"Hello, Rosalie, Emmett," he said, finishing up a measure and stopping. "I see you are curious about why Bella thinks I fixed her truck?"

"Well, we were," said Emmett, "till I smelled you and a wolf on it."

Edward squeezed his hands into fists. "A werewolf? One of the Quileutes?"

"I don't know of any other werewolves around here," pointed out Emmett. "He must have told her. She says thanks, by the way."

"What is your problem?" screeched Rosalie. "You're stalking her like she's your next meal!"

He scratched the back of his head, frowning. "If you must know, she... she smells..." He inhaled. "Irresistable."

Emmett immediately thought of the two women he'd killed before he knew it.

"Yes, exactly," confirmed Edward. "So, since I can't have that in Forks, I'm trying to ... inoculate myself. With small doses."

"You are going to slip up if you stay so close to her," warned Rosalie.

"I have never slipped up," he snarled. "My control is perfect. I have only killed the scum of the earth, like your murderers."

Rosalie froze. Emmett put his arm around her shoulders. "Don't go there," he said menacingly.

"I'm sorry. But those are the only types I've killed, and yes, it was after extensive confirmation of their natures, which occasionally entailed... tailing them," he finished awkwardly. "I won't kill her, I assure you." He then frowned. "Honestly, I repaired her truck because I was worried it would fail and she'd get into an accident and... then I would slip."

Rosalie was still fuming. "What if she gets a freaking _paper_ _cut_, Edward?"

"Then I run. It has happened this week," he admitted.

"All right, I give up," sighed Rosalie. "When Carlisle gets back I'll talk to him. Maybe he can talk some sense into you." With that she left.

Emmett watched her ass as she left the room, then said merely, "You know you're playing a dangerous game here, Eddie."

He resumed playing on the piano. "Please don't call me that, Emmett."


	20. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

Edward played the piano and thought. It was much easier to block out Carlisle and Esme than Rosalie and Emmett, since he'd had to do that for years, but it was always easier when he played the piano. Aro bought him one the very first week they met, although being in Volterra the piano didn't really get much use. Whenever he and Jasper had an assignment that lasted longer than six weeks, he bought one. They hadn't been long in Forks, but fortunately Rosalie had fond memories of flirting with her piano tutor back in New York, and owned this one. She didn't play it often - he'd had to tune it after moving in with the Cullens - so it was fine with her that he took over. He was better than she was, anyway. She could play like any vampire could, having the reflexes and speed not to make mistakes, but she didn't really _know_ what she was doing with the instrument.

But _he_ did, and the orderliness of Bach helped put his thoughts in order. Rosalie was right about Bella Swan, he was forced to admit. The thought of her blood was like a constant itch he couldn't reach. Except when he wasn't even thinking about her, he felt a nagging feeling, and when he'd inspect that feeling, the memory of that smell would wash over him again, like the very first time, and he'd think, _oh, right, that's why I was trying not to think of it._

He also wasn't sure if it was easier or harder to be "going vegetarian" in this sort of situation. Animal blood satiated him, but people still smelled good. And she smelled best of all. Far better than his last meal: Jasper had told him that the Seattle Police Department would be a good place to find scum, half-jokingly, but for Edward, the hard part had been narrowing it down. Should they take out the crack addict who arrested drug dealers so he could confiscate their wares? Or the alcoholic who never came to work sober, and had recently shot a homeless man? He finally settled on a cop on a power trip who pulled over black men and insulted them till they got angry and swung - an excuse to beat them nearly to death. Rosalie thought she was better than him because she'd never tasted human blood, but she had, in fact, killed the men who raped her to death. He couldn't understand why what he did was any worse, except that he was feeding off them. But there really wasn't so much scum in Forks, and the thrill of chasing animals would do.

Also, he had to admit, animal blood cleared his mind to a great extent. It was as if there had been a fog in his brain that was now lifted. So, the call of human blood was stronger than ever, but it felt like he had more room to avoid thinking of it, to think of anything else. And thinking of Bella Swan as a person seemed to help him avoid wanting to think of her as a meal. It usually did. He truly had never killed an innocent, and Bella Swan truly was thus. Even if he couldn't verify that the way he normally did, the stalking - he admitted privately to himself and no one else that it was stalking - provided quite a lot of information. A pity he couldn't run to Spokane and talk to that Black sister about Bella, but then she'd probably see what he was, too.

That was something he was still reeling from. Alice had no reason to lie, but he found it hard to believe that one of them had revealed himself to Bella in Europe. He could only think of one reason why a vampire would do that - the vampire had some sort of power that Bella was also immune to, and he or she was so shocked by Bella's - absence - that he wanted to ask her how she was doing that. He had been too distracted by the singer's blood initially, but he truly was curious about her mental silence. She must not know - or didn't know before the cursed vampire. Bloody hell, he would kill whoever it was that revealed them to her! As if he would find out. Well, he would ask her, sometime. When he was able to be around her long enough to ask her questions.

Except she knew, she _knew_! No wonder she was so skittish at the supermarket. The Blacks probably told her about the Cullens, and she went to school with them anyway, but she wouldn't really understand the significance of the eye color. No, she just thought he was trying to lure her away to eat her. Of course, that was half right.

_Rosalie was right_, he thought again. She and Emmett both were just waiting for him to slip up and kill Bella Swan. They would then kill him before moving on, that much had been clear in their minds. Edward couldn't help smiling a little at the thought of fighting Emmett. He wasn't that big on sparring, since he could see what his opponent was going to do before he did it, but there was still a tiny part of him that saw Emmett as a very large and dangerous vampire, perhaps an actual challenge for once. Probably not, and at any rate, he was going to do his best to make sure it never got to that point.

After all, his control had been perfect his whole second life, and Bella Swan was not going to ruin his perfect record.

He heard the Mercedes long before he heard Carlisle's thoughts. And Rosalie was making good on her threat, going to Carlisle to - to tattle on him, Edward thought wryly, like the errant schoolboy he'd been before turning. Hilarious, really. So he continued playing the piano - louder this time, and more varied - till they finished the conversation he didn't want to hear twice. Soon enough, he heard Carlisle quietly step up behind him, then felt his hand on his shoulder.

"Do you have a minute, Edward?"

Edward stopped playing, nodded at Carlisle, then followed him into his study. He politely listened to Carlisle outline Rosalie's concerns, but then he continued:

"I'm the only one of them who's actually seen you, what you're like when you stalk a human victim. This really is sounding too close to that for comfort, Edward."

Edward sighed, and once again talked of his iron control, and how he never had hurt an innocent, and he never would, no matter how delicious her blood was. And he was abiding by the Blacks' treaty, and even Aro was in favor of keeping things quiet with the werewolves. There was too much going on for him to ruin it by drinking from one tasty human, and hopefully he could get used to the smell.

He closed with, "Did Rosalie happen to mention that the girl did in fact cut herself on a piece of paper while I was close enough to smell it?"

Shock appeared on Carlisle's perfectly symmetric face. "And -?"

"And nothing. I ran as fast as I could. Which, I needn't tell you, is rather damned fast."

They grinned at each other. "Well. I suppose if you have enough control for that, then you're right, there's nothing to worry about. But - I think if you're going to continue this - this 'inoculation' as you call it, you must have Emmett's company. Understood?"

Edward wanted to laugh. Carlisle was acting like his father or something. But his point was not without merit. "Not a bad idea," he said finally. "Will you let him know I'll want to get going soon, then?"

Carlisle frowned. _He still wants to do this in front of Emmett? Perhaps I've misjudged... _Aloud he said, "All right, he'll be right with you," and walked off.

A minute later Emmett entered. "Ready for nightly entertainment?" He pretended to remove and swing a garter.

"Not funny." They began running

"Of course it is. Man, are you uptight." _Do vampires not have sex in Volterra?_

Edward stiffened. "May I remind you that I can hear your thoughts?"

"Oh, shit, sorry," he laughed. "So yeah, do you?"

"Do I what?"

"Have sex in Volterra."

"Not me personally, no."

Emmett frowned. "This is you joking by taking me literally, right?"

"It's really none of your business when and where I have or haven't had sex, Emmett," said Edward patiently as they made their way to Forks.

With a laugh, Emmett replied, "And that, boyo, is where you are dead wrong. 'Cos it's going to be a long night, and I'm gonna be thinking of sex with my wife during most of it..."

Edward sighed. He'd forgotten how smart Carlisle was...

**_In case you're curious, Edward was playing this: http: www . youtube . com / watch?v=8-KyL2gMxV8_**


	21. Chapter 20

**_Chapter 20_**

It was a very quiet night. Normally this wouldn't be strange, but tonight Emmett sat with Edward in the tree nearest Bella Swan's bedroom. The silence was only broken by occasional punctuations - Emmett saying, "Wow" every ten minutes or so.

Edward sighed after the fifty-eighth time he heard him say it. Not that the exclamations were anywhere near as annoying as what Emmett could have been saying or even thinking, but it was still not silence. Normally it was very quiet as he sat and waited. But tonight he was slightly concerned that there would be more fallout from his decision to fix Bella's truck.

His thoughts were interrupted by Emmett giving out a new exclamation. But, no, he was saying something new, this time.

"Not even as a human?"

"I died before the twenties," he said in a voice that just missed being snide. This was, he again had to remind himself, better than Emmett's talking about sex had been. "People were still being rather prudish, and I wasn't even eighteen when I died."

"None of your friends were doing it, either?" His voice dripped with incredulity.

Edward had to think about that. "Benjy was engaged and his fiancee let him go pretty far, but till he was married, no intercourse. But most dates were still chaperoned."

"I guess I was older - and it was later. It wasn't real common for either sex to stay virgins where I grew up," said Emmett in a conciliatory tone. "And then I died in Rose's arms, so that was it for me."

"Is it really so hard to think that I'd like something similar?" asked Edward, exasperated. Any time anyone found out that he was a virgin, the same thing always happened. At least, it had in the past fifty years. Before it wasn't ever really spoken of, but now, apparently, everyone's morals were free to be discussed. At least Emmett got this part.

"But, see, I actually have Rose. You don't have anyone."

"I still want to sleep with someone I'm in love with," he said quietly.

"I just think - I mean, what if you never find a mate?"

He turned to face Emmett. "When you were human, did you care about any of the girls you slept with?"

He shrugged. "They were fun chicadees, but I didn't have strong feelings one way or the other."

"And Rosalie hadn't slept with anyone besides you, right? Voluntarily," he added hastily.

"Course not, she has your mindset."

"And do you bother her about all the men she didn't sleep with?"

"Hell no," he frowned. "But things are different today, if you meet your mate, she probably won't be a virgin."

Edward shrugged. "I think at worst, my mate would still have only given herself in love. Not to simply - satisfy a craving." He rolled his eyes.

Every time Edward rolled his eyes, Emmett had to stifle laughter. "Simply satisfying cravings is what living's all about. Hell, you're one to talk about simply satisfying cravings, ol' Red-Eyes."

"My eyes are currently butterscotch, but I understand what you mean. I suppose one could say that my feeding on humans, even with my stringent qualifiers, was indeed, simply to satisfy a craving. However, there were not two people involved, desecrating a wonderful physical act. I was the only one involved, and therefore no woman was sullied."

Emmett had to laugh then. "No, just a damn dead human. That's all."

"You do realize that the humans I killed barely qualified for the term?"

"I guess morally, you're right. But technically, they were human beings. Capable of moral reasoning. Maybe if you hadn't killed them, they would have changed their ways." He grinned maniacally. "Ok, ok, that's a stretch. But even you say you won't kill innocents."

Edward shook his head. "I have the capability of choosing whom I feed on, and I think I make the world a better place when I choose - the types I choose."

"But isn't that just an excuse to drink human blood? I mean, if you were a human, you'd be fuckin' Dexter Morgan."

Edward didn't understand the reference, so he dug into Emmett's brain to understand: there was a popular television show about a serial killer who only preyed on evildoers himself. He called his urge to kill his "monster." Edward was taken aback, and resolved to watch the show at the first opportunity. "So, because I kill humans, I'm just as bad as one of those men I kill?"

"That's the basic argument," Emmett replied calmly.

"I think there's a few reasons why this isn't the same thing. First, despite Carlisle's pretense, we aren't human," he began. "I know he enjoys his work, but -" Edward stopped suddenly as Emmett jumped from the tree. He followed him. "Wolf?

"I think so. Do you still smell it?"

Edward shook his head. "Don't sense him either," he said as he tapped his forehead. "I suppose we scared him off."

"Awwww." He grinned again, then straightened up and became sober. "This is really out of their bounds..."

Looking at the map in Emmett's head, Edward nodded. "Were they - was he - after us?"

"Must have been." He recalled the scent he'd caught - his sense of smell was a bit better than Edward's - to see if Edward could confirm that it was Jacob Black.

"It was Black all right," he snarled. "If he wasn't Ephraim's descendent, we'd -"

"But he is," cut off Emmett. "We'll still tell Carlisle, but..."

Edward nodded and started the run back home. He slowed on purpose so he and Emmett could talk; he could tell Emmett wanted to ask him some non-sex questions, so he'd allow it.

"So seriously, what got you to fix her truck? It couldn't have escaped your notice last _month_, that it was crap."

"No, you're quite right. But yesterday it was raining and I heard her skid." He hesitated, then said, "She skidded because she saw my car missing in front of Jasper's place, and Alice coming outside."

"And she's friends with Alice?"

He sighed. "She knows Alice is a vampire."

Emmett's jaw dropped. "What?"

"Knows about all of us, apparently."

He shook his head. "The Blacks told her?" He knew that Bella was close to the twins, and Edward was tempted to let him think that, but they were almost home now, and he decided to call a family meeting.

So everyone was present as first Emmett told about nearly scenting Jacob Black, and then Edward repeated the strange tale Alice had told him: Bella Swan meeting a vampire in Croatia at age twelve.


	22. Chapter 21

_**Chapter 21**_

Bella, of course, was completely ignorant of Edward's stalking, although she did see him at the grocery store nearly every time. He wasn't ever very near her, and he seemed to not notice her, but she noticed him. She was quite confused about him. He was gorgeous, of course, he was a vampire, and apparently he wanted her blood. That, she was sure, was why he pretended not to notice her. She didn't really understand the craving - Alice had tried to explain it to her, comparing it to heroin or alcholism, but even that was a poor comparison, she said. "More like, say you as a human haven't eaten in two days, and you see your favorite dessert. You'd have no willpower, right?"

So, Edward saw her as tiramisu or something. Whenever she thought about that, she wanted to retch. But, but, but he was still so very very ... beautiful. She couldn't help dreaming about him. Most of her dreams were of her running from him, but not in a nightmarish way. They were in the forest behind her house, and she was wearing a dress, and giddy for some reason. He pretended to run slowly for her, as if he was just about to catch up to her. They both laughed the whole time, except when they ran past Jacob. He was always very serious looking, and she stopped, and Edward never did catch up to her. She would then wake up. The dreams varied a bit, but were mostly the same, twice a week.

Apart from her dreams, however, she wasn't seeing Jacob Black at all. They still spoke on the phone nearly every day, though. It made things rather confusing. A werewolf or a vampire - these were her dating choices. She was inclined towards the werewolf mostly because she was certain he wouldn't eat her, but on the other hand, he couldn't hang out with her because he might damage her. He wasn't in control of his phasing yet - it came on during strong emotions, and, he admitted to her, he felt strongly for her.

She wasn't sure how she felt about him, not at all. She'd wanted to date Embry, for God's sake. But he was now a wolf too. That was sort of weird, since his mother wasn't Quileute, so his father must have been - a married man. Maybe Billy, maybe Quil Sr., but most likely Sam's absent father. But no one knew for sure except Ms. Call, and she didn't know about the wolves, so she had no reason to tell anyone. "Hell, maybe she doesn't even know who the father is," joked Jake. "Like that stupid show - My Two Dads."

Bella had declined to point out DNA testing, even though she thought Sam might like a real brother. Or Jake. She really hoped Embry's dad wasn't Billy Black, though. That would just be depressing, since he was still married to Sarah at the time. Sam's father had left town a lot, to gamble and drink at other reservations, and then he just left Sam's mother, so he was definitely the most likely candidate.

Quil, too, had phased. The two vampires - Jasper and Edward, although Jake never called them anything but leeches or bloodsuckers - had tried to spy on the wolves, by coming across the treaty border, and that seemed to trigger everyone at once. Even Leah and Seth Clearwater were wolves now. That explained Leah's current behavior towards Sam, at least. Bella had to admit, it was a good thing for Leah that Sam was a werewolf rather than, say, behaving like his father.

"Well, except when they fight. They phase and rip each other up. Then they heal and phase back and are all apologies and sweetness. It's pretty disgusting," explained Jacob. "And we all have mandatory telepathy in wolf form, so we can see exactly what's coming. Ugh."

Most of the other boys didn't mind seeing Leah and Sam's sexual escapades, since they were single. Technically, Jake was single, but ...

The first time he asked her if she wanted to date him, she replied that dating involved actual physical presence. He just sighed and said he was going to at least call her every night. And he did. Sometimes Bella had too much homework to talk very much, but every night there was a conversation.

But she never mentioned seeing Edward to Jacob.

Edward did the thing where he seemed to ignore her for two months. The day before Sam gave Jacob permission to visit Bella, though, he was at the grocery store when she was, and he spoke to her.

"I suppose it's foolish to pretend that you don't know what's going on," he said as she was pushing her cart to the truck.

"Um, what? What's going on?" _He's right, it's foolish._

"Alice mentioned your... encounter in Europe."

Bella froze. Edward walked in front of the cart and started to pull it to her truck, walking backwards, pulling her along as well. He spoke very softly, so softly she just heard it over the squeaky wheels: "Bella, Bella, it's all right. You haven't told anyone, well, no one who didn't already know, so it's not a problem."

"Oh God," she whispered. "You were going to kill me."

His eyes widened. "No, no! I would never - you, you have too many ties, and it would be _worse_ than you knowing, if you - if one of us..." They had arrived at the truck. He stopped walking and looked at his feet. "I would never," he repeated in an even softer voice than he'd been using.

She frowned, trying to decipher his statement. "Because my dad's a cop?"

"That's one reason," he agreed, and started to unload her cart into the truck. "I've never tried to keep a specific person alive before, and it's much more troublesome than I would have believed. But that's probably just because it's you."

She just watched him put the groceries in her truck bed. "I don't fall that much, do I?"

He laughed. "I was referring more to all the - the supernatural you seem to attract." He waved his hands theatrically. "Werewolves and vampires, oh my." Shaking his head, he added, "At least most of them stayed away from you."

"I haven't seen any of the rez boys since - " she dropped back to a whisper - "well, since I saw Jake phase."

"Jacob Black is not in any way staying away from you," he said sternly. "He comes to your house at night."

Her jaw dropped. "What?"

"After your phone calls, when he thinks you're asleep, sometimes he comes to your house to watch you sleep."

She was speechless. "Why do you say that?"

"I told you, I'm trying to keep you alive. I've been - well, very discreetly - following you," he said, somewhat sheepishly.

She just glared at him before blurting out, "You mean I have two stalkers. Great." She pushed the cart back into the cart line nearby, hoping Edward would leave her, but he just stood by her truck, waiting for her to return.

"Fixing your truck was really the best thing I did," he said calmly. "This thing was a death trap waiting to happen."

"That's ridiculous," she snapped. "It's solid steel, I'd live through any accident."

"But if you had an accident, you'd _bleed_," he snapped back at her. "And I'd -" his face fell - "I was afraid I couldn't hold back in that instance."

She stared at him. "But I've - I mean..." She thought for a minute. "I cut myself shaving during showers!"

He nodded. "I had to run very fast. Actually, to be honest, I tended to stay away then. I do try to be a gentleman when I can."

"Right, aside from the Victorian stalking," she threw back.

He bit his lip trying not to grin. "Queen Victoria died a few months before I was born, actually."

Bella suddenly remembered her history. "Are you trying to tell me you're from the_ Edwardian era_?"

"Alas, the terrible pun is the truth." His face contorted with the effort of preventing a smile.

"And - when did you - I mean, what's the - do you have to die first, or -" she stammered.

"Actually I was dying of Spanish flu, and Carlisle was my doctor," he said, to her shock, once more. "He wouldn't ever turn someone who was alive and healthy, but my mother was delirious and begged him to save me, in the way that only he could. He thinks she knew, somehow, but..."

He shrugged. "I was seventeen and couldn't wait till I could go fight in the Great War."

She nodded. It was one thing to have Alice tell her, another to have Edward confirm it with even more facts. "Carlisle turned you. And Rosalie and - the other Cullens? Why aren't you - why weren't you with them."

He frowned. "That's a story for another day, I'm afraid. If you don't mind? I could take you to dinner next week?"

"Well, I'm _sure_ you know my free days," she said dryly. "And you know what I'm doing tomorrow night, I suppose."

"Meeting Jacob Black in person," he said softly. "I had to talk to you first."

She almost laughed. "I've talked to Jake every day, sorry, you lost there."

He suddenly was right in front of her. _Oh, he's gorgeous._ His left hand was just barely touching her hair, and he seemed to be taking great care when he pulled her hand to his lips and kissed it._ His lips were colder than the night, and his smell, he smelled like summer and sunshine, how was that possible in Forks in the rain, and now, now he was touching her hair, ever so gently._ "I may be an Edwardian stalker, but I've never gotten closer than fifty feet to you before this," he said softly, sincerely. "I'm sorry if my behavior insulted you, and I promise that I'll stop completely." He then whispered in her ear, "But I've heard you say my name in your sleep, and that sound made me want to hear you say it to _me_." His right hand was still holding hers, squeezing softly, as if he was testing her resilience. "I think that means I have a chance, no matter how much you like Jacob Black."

Just as suddenly he was at the end of the truck again. Bella felt weak in the knees. "That isn't fair," she breathed.

"I thought all was fair in love and war," he replied. "I honestly was only trying to keep you alive, but - now I want more."

"What do you want, exactly, then?" she asked warily.

"As I said... I want to hear you say my name awake."

She rolled her eyes. "Ed-wurd," she moaned like Frankenstein.

He smiled tightly. "Not like that. And, I have to say, I would prefer to be closer than fifty feet. And I want to get to know you from yourself. I suppose it doesn't affect Alice, so she didn't tell you, but you appear to have a shield, and I'm normally able to read minds. Not yours," he said quickly, before she started to panic. "So, that is very strange for me, and I suppose part of why I've been - stalking you - in my Edwardian manner. I have to see you through other people's minds."

Bella hit on the word _shield_ and almost whispered,"Oh, my, God, Demetri was right."

Edward was back in front of her, but this time he wasn't trying to be tender. "Did you just say Demetri?" he said in a voice full of fury.

"Oh Jesus! You're freaking me out!" she yelled at him, tried to push him away, but he was so stiff and still, like a marble statue, so she just said, "Call me like a normal person, ok?" then got in her truck and drove away.

Thanks to Edward, she managed speeds much higher than 55mph on her drive home.

She felt turned upside down. _First he tells me that Jake and he have been stalking me, then he comes on to me hardcore, then he yells at me?_ And he heard her talking in her sleep. That bothered her more than anything; she thought that little idiosyncrasy of hers was over and done with. The twins used to mock her and tape record her when she was little; she supposed she was still sensitive about it. But he wasn't mocking her, he was - well, dazzling her, it seemed. She'd still been a bit dazzled when he turned on her.

And - and, Alice had kept from her, that one thing, that was almost as significant as his craving for her. He could read minds! Except for hers. _Shield_ had been the term Demetri had used, when he couldn't sense her presence in Croatia, so naturally that's what she mentioned. Why on earth had that made him go mad? Did he know and hate Demetri? That didn't seem likely.

The phone rang. She let the machine get it. Edward first recited his phone number, then he said, "I'm sorry I scared you. I'll explain during dinner. I mean, if you still - at all - want me to take you out? Because, you asked what I wanted, and I - I want to spend time _with_ you, not near you. I've never asked someone to dinner before, I'm sorry if I'm failing in the protocol. I'm - I'm _not_ giving up, at any rate."

She took out the tape and brought it to her room, then plugged the line out into her computer from her personal stereo. She played the tape again, recording a WAV file on her computer from it. She then erased the tape and put it back in the answering machine.

Bella missed Jake's call that night, for the first time in two months, listening on headphones to Edward's apology, over and over.


	23. Chapter 22

_**Edward plays more Bach: http : / www . youtube . com / watch?v=DP03KUAauWU**_

_**Chapter 22**_

After Edward left Bella the most embarrassing message of his life, he drove back to the Cullens. Alice and Jasper were there as well, to his shock.

"What got you two to tear each other apart?" he asked snidely as he made himself comfortable on the piano bench, then began attacking it with the third movement of the Bach piano concerto in D minor.

"Alice said you finally asked Bella out," yelled Jasper in his most amused voice.

"Well, you decided to, but there was something weird about it that I couldn't see. I wasn't sure if you were or not," she added loudly enough to be heard.

He got to the quieter part and spoke as he played. "One of the dogs is after her. He calls her every day. And stalks her almost as much as I do," he said loudly, as the music demanded more pressure on the keys again. This time they remained quiet till he came to another quiet part. "So, last night he told her that he was in control enough to meet her soon. In two days they're going to - 'hang out'." He couldn't help saying the modern slang sarcastically, knowing it meant anything from a simple casual meeting to full on -

He started pounding the keys again, but only briefly, since it was only because he was angry, not because the music demanded it. A minute later, the music did demand it, so he gave in to the urge. Jasper at least knew better than to bother him when he was like this, so they waited out the last four minutes before speaking again.

"So it was the dog that got you off your lazy ass to speak to her?"

Edward slammed the piano shut. "Well, that's what made me do it today, but I was planning to ask her out for about... nine days now. I was just making sure I approached her correctly, seeing as how she already knew I wanted to eat her," he said, glaring at Alice.

"You would have told her anyway."

"Yes, but I'd prefer if I could have," he sniffed. "But I had to plan everything. I'd noted all her grocery visits, so I had to wait for one of those anyway, then I had to make sure I was honest with her about everything, what she knew and didn't know, and I had to try to make myself not sound like a... psycho vampire stalker," he finished glumly. "Even though I am. And I had to practice being very human, even more human than I normally am. I watched Carlisle during the days to get a good lock on that."

"What happened to you nine days ago?" asked Jasper curiously.

"Well, it wasn't anything specific, just that Emmett and I were coming home from Bella's before sunrise -" he stopped for a second. "Oh come on, Alice must have known this much."

She shook her head. "I can't see around the wolves, dick."

He couldn't help chuckling at that word out of Alice's mouth. "Well, yes, as I said, some nights we'd both be watching her sleep. Sometimes he'd arrive first, sometimes I would. And Emmett came with me to make sure I was ... sticking to our diet," he said casually. "He'd almost always leave when he smelled us, but sometimes we'd just be quiet and nothing happened. Not often, our scent nearly always drives him to distraction. I mean, I can't stand his smell either, like the worst nasty wet dog ever, I have to say."

_I remember._ "Get on with it," said Jasper.

"Well, so, nine days ago we got there and, the dog was there already, and he snarled at us, and howled at us, then he just left, and during his silly noises, I caught his thought, _Bella is mine_, or some such nonsense, and at the same time Emmett was just laughing, but as soon as he stopped laughing, he started thinking of Rosalie, which I _have_ to say he does _far_ too often for my taste, even if he's not _thinking_ of her he can't but start _talking_ about something she - she _likes_ in _bed, _and is it _really_ too much to ask that I _don't want_ to know what other people do in bed? I mean I get it to the extent that people can't help it, I _am_ used to it in that regard, but he - he didn't even _try_ to be considerate to my nature, he would - he just _never_ shut _up_ about _sex_, never, never _ever_, and you know I'm beginning to suspect that's why Carlisle appointed him my guard -"

"Edward!" yelled Jasper. "Get on with it already, fer chrissakes!"

Edward blinked. "Oh, well, so I was confronted with these twin images, the dog thinking that Bella was his, and Emmett thinking that Rosalie was his, and that's when it hit me... Well, that I'd rather rip Black in half than let him ever touch her the way - the way Emmett was thinking of Rosalie," he finally finished.

Jasper gave Edward a sarcastic golf clap in his mind, as he always did after Edward finished a ramble. Although, it was true, there wasn't much that could shake Edward to the point of rambling this badly. "You think it's the real thing?"

Edward laughed bitterly. "If it's not, I don't know that I can take the real thing. The worst part is that -" He sighed. "I still want her blood," he said, cringing. "I tried to be near her tonight, and she seemed to like it, but I could only take it for a few seconds before I was thinking of tearing her throat open."

"Edward, you've come farther than I thought you would already," said Alice in a sincere tone. "I've seen you go either way so many times that I thought your chances were fifty-fifty, but you've come so much farther in these few months."

He grimaced. "It's not a matter of choosing once. It's a matter of choosing right, every single time. Carlisle was right to set Emmett to watch me."

"So did she say yes or what, man?"

"Oh, that's the best part. After I told her I couldn't read my mind, that she must have a shield, she says, 'Demetri was right.'"

"That shithead knows Bella?" Jasper yelled.

Edward smiled bitterly. "That was quite close to my reaction, which naturally frightened her badly and she left. But she did say she'd like me to - to 'call her, like a normal person.'"

They all had a good chuckle over that line, but then Jasper was serious. "You think Demetri was the one she met in Europe?"

"He must have been. But we can't tell Aro, or -"

"Or he'll want her taken care of," he finished. "And that'll probably settle him on the wolves, too."

"Not to mention destroying Demetri," added Edward. He didn't have to say how terrible that would be - Demetri was usually the one to send them off on missions, since he could sense where any vampire he'd ever met was. And as he'd been the one to initially go on these missions, he'd met quite a few vampires.

"Well, I'll definitely call Demetri and at least try to find out if he was in Croatia during that time, and why," said Jasper, clasping Edward's shoulder.

Edward put his hand on Jasper's in return. "Yes, you'd better do it. I think I'd - well, probably ream him over, you know."

Jasper bit his grin. "You're scary when you do that. I'll make the call."


	24. Chapter 23

_Sorry for the delay. Work's been crazy, but "fortunately" I had a root canal today. This chapter is brought to you by Vicodin._

**Chapter 23**

Bella woke up after her usual dream of running from Edward in the forest. This time he caught her, and his eyes flashed red, and she woke up.

A sunny day. Rather unusual but she'd take what she could get. She showered, got dressed, had some toast and looked at her cell phone.

A text from Jacob Black.

Oops. She completely forgot to call him.

Which was what the message pointed out.

_I'll call you on my way home_, she replied, and turned the volume off for school.

She was therefore shocked as anything when, after her last class ended, a man on a motorcycle waved her over.

"Jake?" she said incredulously. He was in a leather jacket, tight black jeans, and wearing sunglasses. His hair was short too - apparently the day after she'd seen him Sam shaved his head, but there was a month's worth of growth now.

Mike Newton and a few other guys crept up next to her. Most of the guys were more interested in the motorcycle, but Mike put his hands on her shoulders. "You know this guy?"

She tried to shrug him off. "Yeah, we practically grew up together. He's younger than I am, actually."

Mike stared at Jacob. "Seriously?"

Meanwhile Jacob was reaching into his backpack and pulling out a pair of helmets. "This is what I've been working on the past month," he said. He took off the sunglasses and put on one of the helmets, holding the other one out.

Bella grinned. "See you guys later." She broke away from Mike, who was looking really concerned as she climbed onto the back of the cycle. She put on the helmet, adjusted it, then wrapped her arms around Jake.

"Pull closer," he said softly, and she did so. She was fairly sure he was saying that more for his own sake than hers, but figured she may as well listen to him. "Beach ok?"

"Sure," she replied. "Let me tell my dad before you start the engine." She called home and left a message on the fresh tape. "Hey Dad, Jacob Black and I are going to the beach before the sun goes away. See you for dinner."

After she put her phone away he asked, "Ready?" At her nod against his shoulder, he revved the engine, and pulled out of the school lot.

It was still a little chilly to be riding on a motorcycle, but the helmet helped, as did Black's warmth. _Oh, right, werewolf side-effect. Jacob Black has **magic genes **that turn him into a **giant wolf**._ She shuddered at the thought.

The beach was even colder due to the wind, but Jake had brought a blanket and almost immediately put the leather jacket on her.

"You said you'd been working on the Rabbit," she said half-accusatory.

"Well, I was doing that too, but I saw this 'For Sale' sign for a couple of bikes, and I fixed both and gave one back as payment," he explained.

"Wow. I wish I could do something like that."

He sighed dramatically. "Not all of us can be talented."

She punched him in the shoulder softly. "Oh, Jesus, you're like, a metal sheet. Anyway, jerk, at least I know how to cook."

"So if you're stranded somewhere with groceries 'cos your truck won't start, you won't starve?" he teased. They were both lounging on the blanket, but every minute or so Jacob was trying to creep closer.

"My truck has a new engine now," she reminded him.

"Oh Christ, don't remind me," he moaned.

She turned to look in his eyes. "What? Don't want to talk about my new engine?"

"Not exactly a fan of how it got there."

"I'm not sure what you mean."

He gaped. "Bella, the bloodsucker did it. The young one, I told you that."

"He has a name. It's Edward Masen."

"Good for him," he snorted. "He told you his name?"

"Yes. We talked yesterday."

Jacob started laughing. "Oh God, you caught him! Good for you Bells!" He held out his hand for a high-five. "What, gonna leave me hanging?"

"I'm serious here. We talked at the supermarket."

"Uh. You do realize he was _stalking_ you, right?"

"And how would you know that unless you were also stalking me?" she suddenly fired at him, sitting up straight with her hands on her hips.

Jacob shrugged and smiled, trying to play it cool. "I can smell where he's been."

"He can smell you too. There's no moral high ground here, Black," she said angrily. "I'd punch you for stalking me, except I'd probably break my hand on your stupid werewolf bones."

"Probably. Did you try to punch the leech? Sorry, Edward?" he sneered.

She leaned forward into Jacob's face. "No, because he apologized for it!" she yelled.

He fell back onto the blanket. "Ack, dammit, Bells, I've got super hearing! Jesus Christ!"

She leaned back again, feeling smug.

Jacob sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "Look, I am sorry if you feel like I was - it's just, I was terrified he was going to attack you. I mean, the Elders said that's what vampires do, stalk a victim so they can -" he stopped when he saw Bella's face going white -"so really, I was mostly stalking him, not you. I - I told you how I feel about you, did you really think I'd let one of them get you?"

And there it was. Bella could almost buy it, but... "It wasn't obvious to you that he had no intention of coming more than fifty feet near me?"

"Not initially. But then there were two of them, so, you know."

Bella's heart sped up. Edward hadn't mentioned that. Why did he have a companion? Was it Jasper? Or Alice?

Jake had been watching her reaction. "You didn't know about the other one."

She shook her head. "Who was it?"

He scowled. "I told you, I don't care what their names are. He was a pretty big guy though."

"Emmett Cullen?"

"I guess," he shrugged, but noticed her visibly relaxing.

"He's lived here for over a year, you know. The Cullens are safe."

Jake really laughed this time. Hard. "You - you - you think the Cullens - you think they're safe?" he finally got out. "Wake the hell up, kid. None of them are safe. They just don't eat humans right _now_."

"Jake, Carlisle is a _doctor_. He's given me stitches! Yeah, I think he's safe."

They were both sort of scowling at each other now. "So you regularly hang out with vampires, huh?"

"Jacob Black! I do no such thing! I happen to go to school with two of them, and I've been Dr. Cullen's patient a few times since he moved here! What the hell is wrong with you?"

"And you have conversations in public with _Edward_."

"Wouldn't you think public conversations are the most prudent?" She tried to smile at him, but he didn't return the smile.

"Bella, if he wanted to kill you, it wouldn't matter," he said seriously.

She took a deep breath. "Can you please take me home?"

"I'm sorry if this upsets you, but this is serious."

Bella stood up. "I know, I agree, I'm just - I'm worried you'll get upset and phase and I'll be stranded." She checked the time. "Dad won't be home yet anyway. OK?"

He shrugged and shook the sand out of the blanket before repacking it. "You should keep the jacket on."

Bella didn't argue; she was a little chilled anyway and knew the ride wouldn't help. Besides, she was pretty sure one of those _werewolf things_ was super-healing. Not that she wanted to test it, but right now Jake was on-edge, and therefore more likely to have an accident, so it would be far better for her to be wrapped in the leather jacket in that case.

And he was driving recklessly, in fact. She tried to yell at him to slow down, but either werewolf hearing wasn't _that_ good, or he didn't care. In fact, since she gripped him tighter when she was frightened, maybe it was on purpose.

When they got to her house, he lifted his t-shirt a touch to show her the marks she left. "I guess you don't like going that fast, huh?" he grinned.

"Cop's daughter," she reminded him as she hung up his jacket. "I was trying to tell you."

He snorted and sunk into the couch, and she did likewise, on the opposite side. "So, what did you want to tell me that you needed to say at home?"

"Oh. Well. Edward doesn't want to kill me."

"Oh, he told you that, how charming." He rolled his eyes then stared at hers. "Bells, leeches do not stalk people like that unless they _want_ something from them."

Bella cringed, leaning forward with her head in her hands. "He does want something from me. A date."

Jacob stood up. "Are you fucking serious?"

"Yeah, Jake." She slowly looked up again.

"And I'm guessing you didn't tell him to go blow himself."

Bella raised an eyebrow at him. "I said I'd think about it."

"Think about it? What's there to think about?" he yelled. "Oh, God!" He nearly pulled the front doorknob out before he was gone.

Bella sighed and went after him, but he was long gone, and his motorcycle was still sitting there.


	25. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

Jake didn't waste much time before calling her cell. "Bella, I'm sorry. I really do have better control over the wolf than that, but... ugh!"

"Yeah, I'm sorry I had to tell you that," she said. "I know it's kind of weird. But everything is weird lately. I mean, the only boys I'm interested in dating aren't even human."

"Hm, I'm going to pretend you're only talking about me and Embry now," he said in a more typical voice. "But you like me better right?"

Bella teased, "Yes, Jacob Black, you are a better friend than Embry."

"Hey, that's not what I meant!"

"Well you know, I haven't seen Embry in a while, I don't know who's cuter anymore."

"Wow, you really know how to make a guy feel special."

"It's a gift," said Bella, feeling a bit better. "Destroying male egos isn't something just any girl can do."

"I think you might be wrong about that," he mused. "But I'll give you the trophy for now."

"Awesome, I could put it with the Worst PMS trophy my dad gave me. Apparently I won it from my mom."

"Ew, do you have to talk about PMS?"

"I happen to be a girl, much like half the population. You don't know how many women at any given time are having their periods anyway," she laughed.

"Actually... Leah's stopped," he said hesitantly.

Bella's heart shuddered. "Since she phased?"

"Yeah. And she looks a lot older and um, more masculine? Well, not like unattractive, but like an Olympic athlete I guess. Like the rest of us I guess," he added. "Sam doesn't care but there's never been a female werewolf before. She's a little paranoid about the uh, not having, you know, since it probably means she can't have kids unless she quits the wolf."

"Which she isn't doing till Sam does."

He exhaled loudly. "Right."

"Wolf drama," Bella tried to joke.

"It's a total soap opera. Jared imprinted on this girl in his class, Kim."

"What does that mean?"

"Ugh, I thought I told you about this?"

"Well, it's sort of like love at first sight, but way more intense. I mean, hell, it's all this magic. It's supposed to be really rare, magical true love, except it's not really love. Jared just doesn't see anything else but Kim now."

"Sounds kind of scary, actually."

"Yeah, but at least Kim kinda had a crush on Jared already. She's thrilled that he's asked her out."

"Wait, wait, so it's totally one-sided?"

"Basically. But I mean, it's hard to imagine a girl turning that kind of devotion down."

Bella hesitated. "Um, Jake? What happened today?"

She didn't want to say it, but he still understood. "I didn't imprint on you Bella, it's just normal ... human... emotions here, hope that's good enough for you," he finally teased.

"Oh, well, I was hoping you'd say I'm the sun and no light exists but for me," she said but her tone fell flat. "Ugh, I'm sorry, Jake."

"Well, I was hoping that seeing me would make you decide if you wanted to go out or not. I guess I had bad timing there," he muttered.

"It wouldn't have mattered either way," Bella said, then thought, _did I say that out loud?_

"Yeah," he snorted. "Predators have to attract their prey somehow."

"I wasn't even talking about Edward here," she said seriously. "I mean, maybe we would have gone out a couple times, and then - aw, can you come back here Jake?"

The phone hung up, and five minutes later she saw Jake emerge into her back yard wearing nothing but cut-off sweats.

"Um, where are your clothes?" she asked. He was so tall now. She thought his body was attractive before, but the muscle and everything was stretched out another few inches from the last time she'd seen him shirtless. Not quite as sculpted, leaner.

"They don't tend to survive phasing," he explained. "We can wrap these stupid shorts up and tie them to our legs with bungee cords and it works ok, though. I needed to get the bike back anyway." He was now right next to her, and he took her hand in his. His hand was so hot. The opposite of Edward. Well, of course. They were natural enemies, of course everything about them was opposite. She could date Jake and he might imprint. Did vampires imprint? Alice was sort of nuts, but she seemed to have sort of imprinted on Jasper. Although at least that seemed two-way.

"Earth to Bella," laughed Jake, waving his other hand in front of her face. She sighed. She had allowed Edward to hold her hand, and kiss it, so maybe she should let Jake do it too? It was just so weird. She thought of Jake like a brother, although right now, the way he was looking in her eyes, and her quick glances at his chest, reminded her that they really were not related, oh no.

He grinned and put his hand on her head, tilting it up so her eyes were on his. "You were so checking me out." His voice was soft and totally unlike his normal voice.

"Uh, what? I was not. I was thinking. And just looking straight ahead. You're a giant so of course when I look straight ahead at you it's at your chest. Put a shirt on if you don't like it," she babbled.

"I kind of really like it," he said in his normal voice again. "I was wondering if you're any good at kissing, actually." Still in his normal voice. If he'd used that soft voice, Bella knew her jaw would have dropped to the floor.

As it was, she somehow on automatic replied, "I'm good at everything, so probably." But she felt like her mind had left her body.

"Have you?"

"Of course I have, I kissed Tyler Crowley during spin the bottle before Dad came home and figured out what was going on. That was the last time I was grounded," she said. She still felt - floaty.

He gave her his typical grin, which softened into a smile that she rarely saw on him. His other hand went to her face, both hands now holding her jaw, tilting her face up. They were standing right by the back door, and he walked a couple steps down the stairs. "That should work better," he said, and now one of arms was around her waist, but his arm was so long it extended from his elbow up her back, and sort of supporting her, since she still felt floaty, but Jake was secure in his footing, and secure in holding her -

His other hand went into her hair and he said, "I need to kiss you now, Bella, please," but it was that soft voice again, not pleading, just telling her what was going to be happening, but he wanted to make sure she was all right with it, and all she could say was "OK, yeah" and his lips were on hers.

Spin the bottle at 13 with all your friends watching was not like this. His lips were firm and sure but soft and eager, and he didn't try to slip her the tongue like Tyler had, but he did sort of try squeeze her bottom lip between his, then his tongue did slip out against her bottom lip - and when he pulled away she wasn't sure what to think.

She saw in his eyes that he wasn't sure either.

"Um, I'm not trying to be a dick here, but uh..." he floundered for a few seconds, "that was kind of weird."

"No, you're right," she blurted out.

He laughed. Not his normal cock-sure laugh, but a very embarrassed laugh. "Well, shit, you're so hot, I didn't think it'd be like -"

"Like kissing your sister?" she interrupted.

He laughed again, running his fingers through his short hair. "Um yeah. You're not mad, are you?"

"No, it was kind of like that for me too..." she frowned. "Weird."

"Very weird," he agreed. "OK, let us never speak of this again."

"I don't know. I mean, yeah, ok, that's fine." She could feel her blush, now.

"You were right Bells, you're a good kisser," he said hurriedly. "That wasn't why."

She smiled. "Thanks. Same here."

"Well shit," he said again. "Uh, I'm gonna take the bike and go home, ok?"

"Yeah, yeah, sure," she said.

"You sound like me when you say that." He squeezed her hand and hopped on the bike. He yelled "See ya!" as he started the engine.

_Well, that was weird. I should have asked him for Embry's number._

_**Author's notes: Please review! I respond to every one, and am dying to know what yall think of this chapter.**  
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	26. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

Edward had not spent the past 24 hours happily. First, he had waited while Jasper called Demetri, Alice having left for the small house.

"Hey there, you busy?" drawled Jasper.

"At the moment, I'm waiting for my flight back to Italy from Detroit."

"The hell you doin' in Deee-troit?"

A sigh. "Trying to find this coven that wasn't covering their tracks very well, but the only one I'd met died before - well, no point now."

"Aright then, when was the last time you were in Croatia?"

"Um, I go there quite a bit, it's a pleasant respite. You should understand the pleasure of hunting rather than getting take-out," he chuckled.

"Five years ago this summer?"

"That was one of the times, yes."

"Someone met you there and remembers your name."

Demetri sighed again. "And you're calling me because?"

"She's human, Demetri," Jasper said in the same calm voice he'd been using.

"And I assume you're calling me because she encountered you and recognized what you were."

Jasper barked out a laugh. "It's a lot more complicated than that," he said, and explained the local Quiluete lore about the "Cold Ones" to him. And the Wolf stories that he knew from Carlisle.

"Are you seriously telling me that you arrived in Forks and set off a bunch of werewolves?"

"Nah, we just set off more. There were already a few when we got here." He paused for dramatic effect. "Remember Carlisle Cullen?"

"He left Volterra after I joined the guard, but I have heard the name. Edward's sire?"

"The same. He's living in Forks with his coven. His mate and another mated couple."

"And they set them off."

"Yup."

"And there is also the shield."

"Yup."

"You should turn her."

"She's the only child of the town's police chief, if she goes missing without a good excuse, he's gonna go on a tear to find her."

"... She said something about her father when I met her."

"Oh?"

"She said her father's friend knew - something, then immediately asked if I was human."

"And you told her the truth." Jasper's voice was finally starting to show a little anger.

"I said I was not, and then asked if she was human, since I never met a human or vampire whom I could not... sense."

"And you told no one about this!"

"She surprised me!" he hissed. "She asked me if I was a vampire, I _never_ said the word. How could a girl in this day and age guess the truth?"

"A girl who's father's friend woulda been chief of his tribe fifty years ago," Jasper shot back.

He sighed. "Her mother was suspicious of my interest in her, and was rather on her guard. They left the next day, and I hadn't found out their names. I did intend to bring her to Volterra, but, well, I couldn't track her the normal way."

"Well, you're just lucky she _didn't_ end up telling her dad vamps are real. I'm pretty sure she talked to her Native friends, but like I said, they knew the stories, just were a little skeptical about 'em."

"This is quite interesting. I think I'm going to tell the Brothers that I'd rather go to your new outpost right now."

"That's good to hear, 'cos Edward and I are gonna enjoy kicking your ass for breaking the law like you did," chuckled Jasper.

"Perhaps if I come up with a plan to get the girl away from her father? Without engendering his suspicion?"

"...We'll still kick your ass."

Demetri laughed. "See you soon," he said and hung up.

"The bastard really thinks we want to see his face here?"

Jasper rolled his eyes. "I think we can use him against the wolves, don't you?"

"Why? I can read their thoughts."

"But you can't tell where they are unless they're thinking about it. I mean, they can look around in the forest at night, and it all bloody looks the same, right? Unless it's someplace you've been, and mostly we've stayed behind the treaty lines."

Edward nodded slowly. "But Demetri will need to meet them first, you know."

"As soon as he gets here, we'll have Carlisle call a meeting and have Alice and Demetri sign the treaty. Or at least agree to abide by it."

Edward laughed. "I can't wait to see Demetri try deer."

"Pffft, he'll hate it as much as we do. Even the Cullens don't eat it much if they can help it."

"But we are going to first teach him a lesson, yes?"

Jasper nodded. "I should ask Emmett if he wants to help. That big sumbitch'll love this."

"I think you're right," said Edward.

"Well, if that's all we got for now, I'm gonna head on back to see Alice."

Edward scowled. "How much sex do you two really need?"

"You're just jealous 'cuz you can't have any," he laughed.

"I could have sex if I wanted to!"

"With Bella?"

He hesitated. "I suppose that would be rushing things."

"Eddie, you do recall how fragile humans are?"

"Don't call me that," he said automatically. "I can play the piano without breaking it, I'm sure I can... make love to a human."

Jasper rolled his eyes. "You've read minds when people are doin' it, haven't you? The loss of control?"

The images in Jasper's mind were assaulting him. "All right, I get the picture, go ... go do it already!" he shouted.

Jasper smirked and ran off.

But Edward was now rather upset. He hadn't really thought so far as to ... being physical in any way with Bella. As a human he'd mostly ignored girls in favor of dreams of fighting. The few dances he'd gone to were chaperoned, and if he'd been courting a girl, that too would have been chaperoned.

Today, of course, it was different. Children as young as twelve went on dates, and high schoolers got pregnant quite often. He had no idea how experienced Bella was, or what she expected from a date. Over the past few months she hadn't seemed to hang out with anyone but girls, although that was mainly because the young wolves weren't allowed near people. She did talk to Jacob Black a lot. And ... and later she would be seeing him in person. That wasn't exactly a date, although he wasn't sure what the difference was when one party had definite romantic feelings and one party... needed to be convinced.

Ugh. He couldn't think of that. That awful mangy mutt hanging out with Bella in the daylight - the next day was forecast to be sunny - and they talked so much. She now knew that he sort of stalked her too, but would that be enough to turn her off of him? Or would she realize, when she saw him, how much they had in common, how much he could give her that Edward couldn't. He could even probably touch her without worrrying about breaking her. Well, possibly not, he probably didn't know his own strength yet the way Edward did. But at least he could be near her without wanting to drink her.

OK, he really had to stop thinking about this. He went to the piano and began playing.


	27. Chapter 26

**I apologize for the delay. Mouth abscesses are not fun, no they are not.  
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**Chapter 26**

At around 3am, Carlisle and Esme took Edward out hunting. He wasn't really hungry, but he had been eating at least twice a week to stay prepared for Bella's scent. Not that he would tell them that nothing would have helped except maybe another human's blood; he simply went along amiably and did his best to find mountain lion, the beast he found least despicable. He kept checking the time and wondering if Bella was asleep yet, or brushing her teeth, or reading, or on the phone with the mongrel, or having a dream and talking in her sleep. He hoped she wouldn't trip and fall while tired or anything.

"Carlisle, I don't know how I can stand this," he complained as they ran in step. "I can barely focus on anything else when I'm not watching her."

"You did the right thing telling her," Carlisle assured him. "Well, given she already knew about vampires, that is."

"Right. That makes it ok," grumbled Edward. "Aro's going to kill me if we don't turn her."

"There's time enough to make that decision," Esme said lightly.

"Right. Aro must have touched Demetri since he met her," sighed Edward, then went quiet as he attacked and fed on his mountain lion.

The other two found a herd of elk as he did so, and they caught up afterwards. "You've read his mind as he touches someone, right?" asked Carlisle.

"Yes. The memories generally just get filed into his mind, and he focuses on what he wants to know, but if he say happened to hear me mention 'Demetri in Croatia' he would likely figure it out," explained Edward. "But since I think she's my mate, I would like to change her." He sighed, frustrated, and ran his hands through his hair. "If she'd want to."

"It's not something I'd want to force on anyone with a choice," said Carlisle softly. Edward saw his memory, of Rosalie carrying a torn-up human Emmett to him, and during the change, swearing he'd never make another vampire again. "I think with you, also, I was so lonely I couldn't logically realize what I was doing to you."

"I don't resent you for this life," Edward assured him. "I wouldn't have met Jasper - or Bella - otherwise. Or any of you," he added, smiling at Esme.

Esme smiled back, then said, "I'll meet you two back at the house," and ran off.

Edward caught something about a man-to-man talk as she sped back, and groaned. "Carlisle, really, this isn't necessary."

"You would prefer to wait? You really should be told about... certain things." _Esme, naked, writhing._

"If you could control your thoughts, fine," he begged.

Carlisle nodded and started his speech in his mind, but in some Asian language Edward thankfully didn't know. "It's just not something you should treat lightly. If Bella does not choose to accept you, you may or may not want some kind of ... distraction. With another vampire, it will be very much more intense, but being in love and being with Bella will be different. Strong emotions alter us. We don't change often, so when we do, it can be very powerful."

Edward interrupted him. "Carlisle, I've seen you with Esme after you turned her. And I've watched all sorts of vampires change for their mates. You aren't telling me anything I didn't know."

"It's one thing to observe, it's another thing to experience. For example, what if Bella never calls you?"

Edward's jaw dropped. Surely that wasn't what she was thinking, was it? That she would just ignore him, instead of at least telling him she just wanted to be friends or something?

Carlisle tapped Edward on the shoulder and he swiveled around. "Not that I know if she will or not, but you see, you can't even consider it."

"Why do you think she might not?"

"Edward, I told you, I don't know if she will or not. But you care if she does, deeply. You'd do whatever you could to reach her again, wouldn't you?"

Edward shrugged and nodded. His mind was still a little blown from Carlisle's original question.

"Now, if she does at least accept a few dates with you, what will you do?"

"Whatever she wants," he replied immediately. "I mean, I have some ideas. I'd like to take her to dinner and watch her eat, and maybe take her out to Seattle and have a night on the town. Oh, and there's a Sigur Ros special laser show at the planetarium in San Francisco next month, I think that would be wonderful."

Carlisle chuckled. "I meant physically."

Edward froze. "I - I kissed her hand. I was very careful. She's so fragile."

"She's human, and her blood calls to you stronger than anyone," Carlisle pointed out. "You probably won't be able to do much more than that with her. You have to be incredibly careful. An instant of losing control could mean her death, at worst. At best it could mean her hips fractured."

Edward shuddered at the thought of what might he do that would end up fracturing Bella's hips. He was personally a virgin, but he wasn't totally innocent. "You're right, Carlisle. I won't let it - what are the kids calling it now, second base? Anything past that -"

"You need to be careful with kissing as well," Carlisle cut in. "If she has a cut in her mouth and you get venom in it..."

Edward frowned. He didn't think he was opposed to Bella becoming a vampire, but he did feel it should be her own choice, not because they were making out too much. "Not to mention my razor sharp teeth," he muttered.

"Constant vigilance," said Carlisle. "We are normally able to think of several things at once, but when it comes to sex, our focus does tend to narrow. So, it's definitely a good idea to go slow, if she's interested at all that is."

"Please don't say that," begged Edward. He really didn't know what he'd do if she wouldn't even let him in her presence at all. Even this one night not spent watching her was annoying the ever-livin' shit out of him, as Jasper would say.

"I'll end this for now, but I can give you more advice if you do happen to go further with the human."

"Thank you, Carlisle," he said soberly. He was grateful for the information - he hadn't truly thought of the consequences beyond being able to see her smile at him. That truly sounded sufficient for now. The thought made him smile as they ran back to the Cullen house.


	28. Chapter 27

**Disclaimer: the theological views presented below are not the views held by the author. The author doesn't actually believe vampires exist.**

**Chapter 27**

Edward couldn't stop thinking about Bella, of course, but he was mostly thinking of her as a human. It was technically legal to change anyone over the age of fourteen, but this was only because of Jane and Alec. If they hadn't been being burned as witches, Aro would have waited till they were eighteen or even twenty-one. But Aro didn't give a toss about human experiences, or - an afterlife.

When Carlisle had first changed him, he'd been convinced that his - soul - was now gone. He couldn't conceive of how a creature such as himself could be anything less than damned. All he wanted to do was kill, after all. He and Carlisle fought about it, even after the volatile newborn stage, but if he had to be honest, the reason he left was Esme. Being a third wheel for nearly a decade wore on him, and that was when he first began stalking scum. At the time, Carlisle hadn't convinced him that he had a soul, so what difference did it matter if he behaved as an avenging angel?

In fact, it was the men he fed from that convinced him. Their memories of their crimes and passions horrified and disgusted him. People called those types "soulless killers", and he didn't think it was possible that he was worse off than they were. He, at least, had questions about whether he was doing the right thing or not.

While these ideas were burning in his mind, he met another vampire who had similar proclivities. Jasper Whitlock. They met in Tennessee, both coincidentally stalking the same rapist. Jasper's methods of detection were more old-fashioned than Edward's, but no less effective. At the time, Edward hadn't really wanted to join his coven, but the discussions he had had with Jasper were fascinating.

When Jasper heard of Edward's sire, Carlisle Cullen, the vampire who never tasted human blood, Jasper was understandably skeptical. But the more he heard about it, the more excited he became. Jasper's odd theology had gone along the lines of - when you became a vampire, your "soul" went to heaven or hell, but it was possible to grow a new soul, and he was becoming convined that eating animals accelerated the process. Edward was unsure of the metaphysics, but it seemed reasonable to him.

So Edward returned to the Cullens. They were delighted to see him, red eyes and all. Although he was polite enough to return to the "vegetarian" diet while he lived with them, and kept arguing about souls with Carlisle. Carlisle still insisted that even vampires kept the same soul till they really died, up in flames, but he didn't truly argue with Edward about his new beliefs. Carlisle was just glad Edward didn't think he was one-hundred-percent damned anymore.

Jasper had also convinced him that he was being a bit of an idiot about hating himself for being an immortal creature. "If you believe you have a soul, then part of you will last forever no matter what happens, right? Now I don't know, but I bet Earth is a lot more fun than heaven or hell. If you have to last forever, I'd just as soon it be here. Heaven's probably boring, and Hell must be worse, right?" Edward wasn't convinced that being a bloodthirsty crystalline telepath was the best option, but he had to admit that he had no way of actually knowing what really was going to happen "next."

Upon returning to the Cullens, Edward took about a year to fully express the views that Jasper had impressed upon him. Esme thought they were ridiculous, but she had soured on religion as a human anyway, since her family preacher had kept insisting she obey her husband. For her, the option was either to believe the preacher had a calling from God, and therefore God wanted her bruised and battered - or not to believe at all. She hadn't even really thought that suicide would reunite her with her son - she had truly only hoped for an end to her suffering. But despite everyone's differing beliefs, once again they were happy together, and she hoped that Edward would stay with them for good this time.

He stayed long enough for them to move to Rochester, but he started talking about making a difference again. It was easier on his conscience to feed on animals, but it made him antsy. He admitted it was mostly because he missed the taste of human blood, but he also missed feeling as though his actions made the world a better place. Carlisle was able to be a doctor, but what could Edward do? They tried to encourage him to go to law school, but Edward secretly thought pretending to be human as they did was ridiculous. He did take the New York bar exam, but then Rosalie came along, and her revenge on her killers less than a month after her change was too flagrant for them to be able to stay in Rochester.

And so they had to leave again. They settled near enough to Tennessee that Edward left so he could find Jasper again. He was done with the Cullens this time. Not only had Carlisle taken a huge risk changing someone as recognizable as Rosalie Hale, but he didn't seem to care that she killed seven humans. Not that Edward cared about their deaths, but he found Carlisle's hypocrisy intolerable at the time. He hadn't realized that Carlisle felt the same way about Edward's own killings as he did about Rosalie's.

Finding Jasper had been rather tricky this time. He first spotted Maria, Jasper's former coven leader, but her thoughts were hostile and he merely tracked her. She had apparently turned a few newborns in order to kill Jasper once and for all. Fortunately for Jasper, someone else nearby noted the newborns, and this was how Edward saw the Volturi for the first time.

Jane, Alec, Demetri and Eleazar were enough to pass judgement on Maria and her newborns. Edward read their thoughts far away in silence, so none of them noticed him during the execution. One of the group wasn't killed, however, and this intrigued him. Apparently her name was Carmen, and the whole time Eleazar had been thinking about how beautiful she was. She was skittish, as newborns tended to be, and Eleazar finally admitted that he was going to have to take her away. The other three agreed - a newborn did not belong in Volterra, even if she was a guard's mate.

Before they parted, however, they looked for Jasper. They had of course interrogated Maria to see why she was behaving so recklessly, and she had told them about her Major, who had been with her for so long. Demetri and Eleazar immediately wanted to see what kind of talent he had, to control newborns so successfully, and Edward panicked over his friend being killed the way Maria and her brood had been.

So Edward revealed himself to Eleazar, saying "Carlisle Cullen says hello."

Jane and Alec had never met Carlisle, but Eleazar and Demetri had, and were shocked he still lived, especially in the manner he did. But Edward's eyes were still yellow, proving everything. Carmen was intrigued, and young enough that she wanted to give animals a try. Edward told Eleazar and Carmen about the clan he'd heard about in Alaska - he didn't think Carlisle would appreciate another newborn at this point in time, even if she was already mated. But they waited till they found Jasper, so Eleazar could confirm his talent. Edward spotted him first and gave him a brief account, at which point Eleazar and Carmen gave their respects, then ran northwest as fast as they could.

So Jasper and Edward had found themselves going to Italy with Jane, Alec and Demetri. Finding out what the guard did - keep the secret - had been enough to convince Jasper, but Edward wanted more. Fortunately it hadn't been too hard to convince Aro that being "superheroes" was as good a role for them in the guard as any. Aro had wanted to keep Edward at his right hand, but he recognized that Edward's happiness was vital for him to stay at all.

Thus, the idea of the outposts. Edward and Jasper set them up and visted them regularly, for the sole purpose of being able to get rid of "scum," vampire, or human, it didn't matter. Of course, the bar for vampire scum was far different than for human scum. If a vampire killed lots of people, he was just hungry, after all. But the ones who threatened the secret - Edward understood how important that was. Without the Volturi, some vampires would stop at nothing, and would soon be exposed. Since the 20th century humans had been fully capable of firebombing some area just to eradicate that sort of threat. No one else was taking this responsibility but the Volturi, and Edward and Jasper had been happy to be part of that for the past fourscore years or so.

But now... now, they had mates to worry about.


	29. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28**

And so Edward reviewed the past century of his life in the hours before light dawned again in Forks. Everything that led up to him talking to Bella for the first time at the ThriftyWay didn't seem nearly as important as the scant weeks since that moment. He wanted to talk to Jasper about it, since he talked to Jasper about everything, but Jasper still seemed to be spending all of his time either hunting with Alice or ... with Alice.

So as Carlisle got ready for work, Edward watched him and Esme. They didn't seem to mind not spending every second of the day together, but Edward did remember how they'd been when she first had been turned. At the moment, she was wearing a robe and helping Carlisle put on a dress shirt. Even though they were barely touching, Edward of course knew what they were thinking, and they were not concerned that Edward was there. Fingertips against fingertips carried as much meaning as any touch could. Edward wondered how he ever stayed with them in the first place, when he had to deal with - with this kind of love, out of his reach. But perhaps it was merely worse now, because it might be in his reach.

"Let me drive you to work, Carlisle," Edward burst out.

Esme and Carlisle turned from the work of knotting the tie around his neck. "All right, Edward," he said slowly. "Give me a minute with Esme and I'll meet you in the Mercedes?"

Edward nodded and ran to Carlisle's study to get the keys.

Not that it really mattered if he was in the room or not. He could still see them kissing each other good-bye, as if they'd be separated for a year instead of ten hours or so. Edward fiddled with the car stereo - Carlisle hadn't bothered updating beyond a ten-disc changer yet - to try to distract himself. The minutes stretched on as he switched through every CD in the car.

It hadn't been more than four minutes, of course, before Carlisle opened the passenger door. "What's on your mind, Edward?"

He didn't beat around the bush. "How do you handle being apart from Esme for half the day?" That wasn't his initial question, but their most recent affections made it paramount.

Carlisle smiled gently. "I try to focus wholly on my work. But there is always a part of my mind thinking of her, counting the seconds till I see her again. Maybe you should go back to the cities during the day?"

"I really don't want to be that far from Bella," he muttered, and then asked the important question. "Is it normal that the century before I came to - to Forks seems so bland and awful now? I mean, you lived for so long before meeting Esme, and then you avoided her for years again."

"Well, avoiding her was something of a mistake," he admitted. "I wish I had found her again before she was driven to suicide, but to answer your question, yes, I do divide my life into the time before Esme and the time after."

"But why?" wailed Edward. "Why can't we focus on anything else?"

Carlisle took a moment to gather his thoughts. _It must be an evolutionary advantage? There are few things that can kill a vampire besides another vampire, and if the mate bond wasn't so strong, no vampires would be able to join forces at all. This is the strongest force I've seen, two vampires mated, aside from the Volturi. But even they need Chelsea to knit together._

All he said aloud was, "This is fine," as they had arrived at the hospital.

Edward sighed, parked the car and gave Carlisle his keys back. "I probably won't see you tonight," he said gloomily. "Bella's hanging out with Jacob Black and I'm going to go insane if I can't make sure he doesn't hurt her."

"Edward! You said you weren't going to stalk her anymore," he said sternly.

"I'll have to be a mile away from them," he agreed, "or else the mutt will smell me."

* * *

><p>That evening Edward was in the best mood of his life. He'd carefully stayed a mile away from them while they were at the beach, and when they left he hid a mile away in the woods, sure as he could be that the evergreens hid him from the sunshine. He'd thought he was going to die when Bella and Black kissed; he could have sworn he felt his venom melting through his very skin, but a moment later his mood lifted when he heard Black's thoughts:<p>

_OK this is really way too much like kissing one of my sisters. I'm going to stop this now._

He heard Bella's agreement echo in Black's head and whooped in pure joy. He ran, no, he skipped! all the way back to the Cullen place. He was so stupidly happy he could hear Gene Kelly singing in his head.

_I'm singing in the rain_  
><em>Just singing in the rain<em>  
><em>What a glorious feelin'<em>  
><em>I'm happy again<em>

When he got inside, Rose and Alice were painting each other's toenails while Emmett and Jasper played X-Box.

"You were right babe," laughed Jasper. Apparently five minutes ago Alice had said, "_Edward's going to come over in the best mood of his existence."_

Edward couldn't help it. "Come on Rose!" He pulled her up from the sofa and started dancing with her, the dances they had both learned as youths. "Let the stormy clouds chase! Everyone from the place! Come on with the rain!"

Jasper was feeding off his good mood and pushing it back out to everyone in the room, and Emmett paused the game and cut in, and now everyone was singing along:  
><em>"I've a smile on my face, I walk down the lane! With a happy refrain! Just singin', singin' in the rain!"<em>

They all collapsed in a heap laughing.

Emmett punched Edward in the shoulder. "Bra, it's sunny today, you know that, right?"

"I am highly cognizant of metereological factors, yes, Emmett," he snapped back, but he was unable to stay sarcastic. "I had to hide in the forest. She doesn't want him! And he doesn't want her either! _I'm happy again_!" he sang out once more.

"That's wonderful," cheered Alice. She hadn't liked Bella being near the mongrel any more than Edward did, and only partly because he blocked her sight. "I hope she can make a decision about you soon."

"I don't really care," he explained, still giddy. "I'll take whatever she feels comfortable with."


	30. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29**

While still giddy from singing and dancing, Alice started smiling and reciting some Korean pop song. He gave her a look, but it wasn't long before Edward's iPhone rang.

He looked around the room. "OK, who set Bella's ringtone to Evan and Jaron?"

Emmett was grinning. Of course. _A month ago, dude!_

Shut up. "Hello?"

"Uh, hi, Edward Masen right?"

"Correct. Bella Swan, right?"

A soft embarrassed laugh. "Yeah, I guess you knew that. Um. I just wanted to tell you we could go to that Italian restaurant you wanted next week. Is Saturday ok?"

It was Thursday now. "Saturday is perfect. I'll pick you up around six in the evening?"

"Sounds good. Um, how fancy is it?"

"Not that fancy, but I wouldn't mind if you wore a skirt or something," he confessed.

"Uh, well, I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you for returning my call, Bella."

"Yeah, sure. I'll see you Saturday?"

"Definitely." They hung up.

Alice spoke up. "Jazz, can I borrow your credit card to get Bella something nice to wear for her date?"

Edward stared at her. "I'm sure she'll look lovely in anything she wears."

Alice rolled her eyes at him and pointedly grabbed his cell phone. Less than a minute later, Bella picked up. "Hu-hello?"

"Hello Bella, it's Alice."

"Oh! Hi Alice! How's it going?"

"I'm having a lovely time getting to know Jasper. He mentioned something about you going to dinner with Edward next week?"

"Uh, yeah, actually we just settled on Saturday?"

"You aren't concerned about it, are you?"

"Uh, kind of. I don't really have anything that's date-appropriate. At least not for Forks, my mom sends me cute outfits that I can wear for three weeks in the summer. And she hasn't done that since she met this baseball player."

The whole room heard that, of course, and Alice stuck her tongue out at Edward. He simply rolled his eyes at her and allowed Alice to arrange to pick her up after school Friday to go shopping in Olympia.

"Oh, I have to go, but I'll see you tomorrow!" She hung up the phone and handed it to Edward. It rang out the opening bars to the Who's "The Seeker," and he glared at Emmett again.

"Hello, Demetri."

"Hello Edward. I'm just off the plane in Sea-Tac. Is it all right if I get something in the city before heading over to see you two?"

"That's probably better, you won't be able to hunt over here."

"You two have been going back to Seattle every week for food?" he asked incredulously.

"No, we've been ... following Carlisle's diet plan."

Demetri barked a laugh. "You can't be serious."

"If you want to stay here, you've got to as well."

"Animals? You truly expect me to ... honestly?"

"Jasper and I have been doing it since we arrived."

"No wonder you haven't taken care of the wolves," he muttered.

"Hurry up," snarled Edward, and hung up his phone.

Emmett gave Jasper and then Edward a once-over. "You really think Demetri is going to agree to all this?"

"Jasper has!"

_Ummmm, Edward? _Jasper thought to him.

Edward's poker face was perfect as Jasper went over a couple of slips. Not since Alice, who had no problems apparently manipulating Jasper by withholding sex to get him to eat animals only. But there had been a few. Not very near Forks, but near enough to make Edward want to punch him in the face very hard.

No one but Jasper and Edward knew what was going on, one detecting the other's trespasses, the other feeling the one's rage, but vampires tended not to be stupid.

"Nice, just nice," sighed Rosalie. _What else can you expect from a Volturi guard? _"I guess you can take the vampire out of Volterra..."

"Just what are you insinuating, Rosalie?" asked Edward in a menacing tone, still pissed that Jasper had been misleading him.

_That you're going to eat Bella, duh._ "That it's a bad thing that you're so obsessed with Bella Swan."

Edward started. "I'm not obsessed with her, and I'm not going to eat her! I'm in love with her, something I suppose _you_ couldn't possibly understand. You're only in love with your own reflection."

"Hey, hey, hey now!" barked Emmett, stung.

Rosalie pretended not to hear the last part. "At least Jasper is smart enough to go away for his indiscretions. Not Edward Masen, oh no! He had to get addicted to the _police chief's daughter_! Jesus, Edward, you have no sense of subtletly!"

"Don't be such an idiotic twat. It's not my fault she's my singer! Not hers, either!"

"SHUT UP!" screamed Alice. "SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!" And when a vampire chose to be loud and shrill, she was loud and shrill, indeed. Edward and Rosalie finally joined everyone else in covering their ears and muttering "sorry Alice."

"Look, this whole thing is just a clusterfuck. I feel terrible that I didn't try to find you guys earlier, maybe I could have found a way around the wolves if I'd been here for years," apologized Alice.

"Baby, you don't have to apologize for that," protested Jasper. "Those animals are so freaky who knows what woulda happened. Maybe they'd killed you if you'd been here with us."

"I meant here with the Cullens."

"You would have been miserable with the Cullens," muttered Edward. At her sharp look, he stammered, "Well, all right, it's a subjective thing, but it's not much fun to be the only unmated vampire in that sort of situation. But I seem to get the impression from you that you're going to pull Jasper from his job with the Volturi, and that's why you hadn't approached us before."

Alice frowned. "We're still discussing it."

"You have to admit Eddie," drawled Jasper, "being a Cullen doesn't seem to be all that bad, does it?" Memories of the newborn wars of the South all the way to be received at court in Volterra flashed through Jasper's mind. Even the silly idea of going to high school and college held new appeal to him, as long as Alice was by his side.

"Don't call me that. You think we should just drop it all to be Cullens? Both of us?" He had never seriously entertained the thought of leaving his vocation of over fifty years, but part of that was certainly because Aro would probably kill him if he couldn't have him.

"Edward, you know you can't leave Bella," said Jasper softly. "This is probably the best way to do it."

Edward pinched the bridge of his nose. "And you think we can convince Demetri of this?"

"Guards have left for mates before," he reminded him, thinking of Eleazar and Carmen.

"True, but I think we'd have better luck if we just asked Aro to stay at this one permanently because of our mates, rather than quit altogether," said Edward in a reasonable tone.

"Carlisle isn't going to _let_ you stay here if you're seriously going to slaughter the werewolves!" shouted Rosalie.

Jasper and Edward stared at each her. "We weren't planning to go against the treaty," said Edward slowly. He had to speak slowly, otherwise he was going to beat Rosalie over the head with her own arm. He never had gotten along that well with her.

"That's very true Ms. Hale. It's not like me and Edward here could do anything like that, just the two of us, anyhow."

"Sure, that's not why Demetri's coming here at all," she said sarcastically.

Jasper pictured Demetri's head coming off. "Demetri is the only one who can reveal Bella to Aro besides us. It's one thing for shapeshifters to know about vampires, another thing for a mere human. Since we can't change her till she's older -"

Alice interrupted. "Demetri already met Bella, and revealed her to Aro, didn't he?"

"That's not exactly how Aro's power works," said Edward. He explained, as he had to Carlisle, that Aro normally only focused on what he wanted to know, but could at any time call up any memory he'd ever read. "If he has no reason to, though, he won't think of her. Since we implied we were going to punish him for even talking to her, it's not likely he'll remind Aro anytime soon."

"So Bella's safe unless Aro actually brings his rotted ass out here?" asked Emmett.

"Essentially," confirmed Edward.

"And you guys don't think that three of his guard hiding out in a new outpost that he knows has _werewolves_ around just might get him curious?" Rosalie was completely exasperated.

Edward hadn't thought that, really. Aro had almost never left the compound since they'd met. He and Jasper weren't even required to return to Volterra unless they'd picked up new candidates for the guard.

It was Jasper who answered. "If Aro comes, he's going to bring a whole mess of Guards with him. Bella's gonna be the least of the worries then."

Edward nodded in agreement. "He wanted me to update him if the wolves broke the treaty, but other than that he seemed ok with whatever happened. Although I haven't spoken to him since informing him that Alice existed, in the capacity of Jasper's mate only." He looked at Jasper. "I don't know how long we can keep from telling him about my mate, though."

"Let's try as long as we can, then."

* * *

><p><em>AN: I started a new story, just because I felt like killing Bella Swan again. Third Verse Different From The First. Pretty much every time Edward overcame his instincts in Twilight, he'll fail. Over and over again. I've been reading too much time travel HP ff._


	31. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30**

After school Friday, Bella walked up to her usual parking space. This was difficult, as a bunch of young men were gathered around it. As she approached, she realized they were actually gathered around the car next to hers. She recognized Alice and Jasper, the former leaning on the opposite side of her own truck, the latter leaning against the fancy sports car, which even she recognized as vintage. He was talking amiably to most of the high school boys asking questions, but when he saw Bella, he apologized and walked over to Alice.

"Um, hi there," said Bella to the two of them.

"I know you two have met before, but I would like to introduce you to my mate, Jasper Whitlock," Alice said with a blissful smile on her face.

"And of course you know my mate, Mary Alice Brandon," added Jasper in his most buttery Southern tone. Bella noted that his eyes were a much lighter color than they were when she met him, but he was probably wearing contacts then, since they had still been pretending to be human. Now they were the same golden color as Alice's.

"If you let Jasper drive your truck back, he'll leave your key on your windowsill."

Bella frowned. "But I'm on the second floor."

The two vampires laughed gently. "That won't be a problem for me, Miss Bella."

"And we'll take Jasper's car. You don't mind if I drive fast, do you?" Alice then frowned. "Oh, I guess you do."

"Um, I'll try not to. But I am a cop's daughter," she said sheepishly. "Speaking of which, don't drive my truck over the speed limit, I don't really want to explain to my dad why you were driving it."

"Doesn't he know you're going shopping?"

Bella blushed. "I was going to call him after we left, since he's working late and I don't like to bother him"

Jasper snorted. "Teenagers," and held out his hand for the keys. Bella separated the truck key from her house keys and gave it to him. In return he handed Alice his car keys. "You're gonna be careful right? No knicks?"

"I told you before," she said impatiently. "I would have borrowed one of the Cullens' cars if I saw an accident. I know you love your baby almost as much as you love me!"

He grinned. "Got that right," and as he kissed her Bella felt so, so happy for the two of them. She couldn't stop smiling, even after they pulled apart and got into their respective cars. It wasn't until Jasper pulled out of the parking lot that she felt normal again.

"Jasper pushes and pulls emotions to and from people," Alice said. "I think I've told you this before, but you were more interested in Edward's powers."

Bella blushed again. "I guess you're right," she sighed. "And I remember you can see the future. Is that why you don't have a problem speeding?"

"Pretty much. If I decide to go so fast on the highway, I can see if I'd get pulled over or not. So you might see me slow down to the speed limit randomly. Is that ok with you?"

Bella bit her lip. She supposed since a vampire had super reflexes, even if they did crash, Alice could easily rescue them both. "Yeah, I guess it's ok. I mean, how fast were you planning to go?"

Alice just grinned and revved the engine. The kids who were gathered around scattered, and she reversed, backed up, then upshifted too fast for Bella to see, but she heard the squeal as the car peeled out of the parking lot onto the highway. It was only in third gear by the time Bella opened her eyes, and they were going over 80mph already.

"Oh Jesus," muttered Bella, taking deep breaths. The car was still accelerating. Bella had a feeling that the normally-three-hour-drive would be much shorter this time...

Talking. Talking would distract her till Alice stopped freaking speeding up. "So, you and Jasper, huh?"

Alice laughed. "Correct. I'd tell you how happy I am, but I have a feeling you got a hint of it earlier. Jazz usually is better about keeping emotions to himself, but I think he was a little bit distracted." She laughed again. It was a joyful, exuberant sound. The sound of a woman who laughed because her happiness was so great it bubbled over.

Of course she wasn't sure what else to say now. "So you aren't upset about him going to Alaska?"

"Why would I be? He didn't even know I existed before I came here, and now he's promised me he'll forsake all others."

Bella felt a jolt. "Did you two get married?"

"Not yet. I mean, we've made promises to each other, but not in front of witnesses. No rush, really. And Jasper's a little more uncomfortable being around humans than me or Edward."

Bella shivered. This was the part of vampires she really couldn't get used to. "But he's been drinking animals, right?"

"Mostly," sighed Alice.

"_Mostly_?" shrieked Bella. "Oh my God, who did he kill?"

"Calm down Bella, it wasn't anyone around here! He's not an idiot," she said soothingly, but Bella wasn't soothed. "He told me about it, it's only been two alcoholic street people in the cities."

Bella rolled down the window to get some fresh air; she thought she might vomit. She couldn't believe she had just been joking with someone who ate a couple of bums over the last month. She had thought he was cute, for goodness' sake, that he and Alice were so adorable, and all that time -

"I guess homeless drunks is better than -" she shuddered again. "But he really really needs to stop."

"I know, Bella," she said in that same tone meant to calm her. "I'm doing what I can. He finally admitted it to Edward, at least."

Bella immediately felt relief. "Edward wasn't - with him?"

"No, I was the only one who knew anything. I was shopping online for a little while and he ran off. Of course I knew were he was going, especially when he came back with red eyes. The Cullens thought we were avoiding them because we were too busy making love, but it takes a couple of animals to go back to golden eyes. Humans taste better, and get rid of the burn, but it also comes back harder. Animals don't get rid of the burn totally, but it doesn't flare up as badly."

"What burn is this?" asked Bella timidly.

"When you become a vampire, you feel like you're on fire for a few days. Three or four. It's the venom that makes you into a vampire. And when it starts to fade, just before your heart stops, the only place it remains is your throat. You feel so thirsty almost all the time. Being around humans makes it worse."

Bella had never before felt afraid of a vampire that was with her before. Alice hadn't talked much about this sort of thing when they first hung out, mostly she'd talked about Edward and Jasper. And she'd been stilted and weird even then, but she hadn't really scared Bella, as in feared for her life. "Do I smell that good to you?" she whispered.

Alice laughed again. "Not like Edward thinks, if that's what you mean. I've actually been eating animals for years, even though my creator wasn't really approving. It's not like he could stop me. And, well, he'd drink people in front of me, and I could resist that, simply because I hated it so much." Her voice was bitter. She had never mentioned anything about her creator before, either. Bella could tell it was a sensitive subject.

"So I guess if you can resist bleeding humans right in front of you, I'm safe?"

"Pretty much, yeah. Are you worried about your date with Edward?"

Bella sighed again. "Yeah, that singer thing keeps freaking me out. But on the other hand... He seemed so sweet the last time I saw him. And his message he left me... he just seems like a normal guy with a crush." Bella didn't mention the way her heart fluttered when he kissed her hand. Or the way she played his message over and over. Or how she blushed when he asked her to wear a skirt.

"You know, you smell even stronger when you blush," Alice said, and Bella felt her face go warm again. "Yeah, like that. I don't know the extent that you can help it, but it would probably help Edward if you didn't."

"That's really not a good thing for me to hear," Bella mumbled.

"I'm sorry Bella. You really like him, don't you?"

"I think I do. Ugh. I dream about him. He was in the tree by my window and heard me call his name out in my sleep."

"Are you still mad about that?" asked Alice cautiously.

"I'm mad at both of them, but on the other hand, maybe both of them being there prevented either of them from doing anything more," she said. "I mean, like actually going into my bedroom to watch me sleep instead of just from the tree," she said quickly, to avoid any other implications.

"I don't know if it makes you feel any better, but Carlisle made sure Edward always had someone with him to stop him from trying to get you. I mean drink you," she explained.

Bella took a deep breath but it didn't help, and Alice pulled the car over and braked so fast she thought she was going to get whiplash. But Alice had the car stopped and Bella's door opened just in time for her vomiting.

She gave her some water afterwards, and put her cold hands on her neck and face to calm her down. "I hope it makes you feel better if I tell you that his watchers never ever had to restrain him. Not once."

"Yeah, it does make me feel better," she confessed. "I wish you had said that first." She truly didn't want to have to worry about dying on her date with Edward.

"The reason he did that was so he could get used to your smell," Alice said softly. "Well, he told everyone that it was to make sure you didn't hurt yourself, because if you bled, he didn't think he could resist you."

"But I did, and he did, right?"

"That's right, Bella." She helped her stand up. "Think you can stand the next twenty minutes of my driving?"

Bella took another deep breath. "Yeah. Thanks for being honest with me," she said sincerely.

"Anytime, Bella," she said, and hugged her.

"I think Jasper is really good for you," said Bella as she buckled up again.

Alice just gave off that sparkling laugh again as she started the car and sped off.

_Jasper's car, of course, is a '69 Stingray. Such as: http : / www . usedcorvettesforsale . com / 1969 . shtml_


	32. Chapter 31

_Quick reminder that Emmett has set some of Edward's phone's ringtones:_

_Bella: Evan & Jaron, "Crazy for This Girl" ( youtube DOTcomSLASH watch?v=cXWjnthSRkA )_

_Demetri: The Who, "The Seeker" ( youtube DOTcomSLASH watch?v=UAbzlj3nf4E )_

Chapter 31

Before dawn on Friday, Edward's phone began playing The Who. He stopped playing piano and picked up the phone. "Are you here yet?" he asked Demetri.

"Nearly. I just wanted to make sure about the werewolves territory."

"Try to come from the south, it's mostly the coast a bit north of here," advised Edward.

"Perfect. See you shortly."

Five minutes later Demetri arrived. Carlisle and Esme were the only Cullens who left their bedrooms to greet him.

"Carlisle Cullen. I've heard quite a lot about you," Demetri said when he shook his hand. "Have you still never tasted human blood?"

"No, and neither has one of the others here, Rosalie," he said, every bit the proud father.

"Amazing." Demetri shook his head in disbelief. "Well, I will allow you and your beautiful mate some time alone while I speak with Edward here. Thank you for allowing me in your lovely home."

"Esme is the one who built it up, actually," Edward said.

"Beautiful, and talented." Demetri smiled.

"Flattery will get you everywhere," Esme joked. "Settle in if you like. Edward knows where everything is, although I suppose you won't really need a bedroom at all."

"Probably not," he agreed. "Thank you again."

Esme smiled and nodded, and she and Carlisle retired.

"All right. Tell me everything about this girl shield you met."

He shrugged and played through the memory, as this would be simpler for Edward.

Edward was caught up in how cute Bella had been even five years prior, but he managed to focus on how indeed, she was the one who called him a vampire. He had thought it too risky to kill her, and a waste besides, and planned to track her mother, but they had checked out. He still could have found her mother, of course, but wanted to wait till she was eighteen to change her anyway. Finally, he delayed going back to Volterra as long as he could, running various errands for Aro till his memory of meeting Bella was less prominent in his mind. He still had been fearful that Aro would kill him - or punish him at least - for letting her live, but Aro had seemed to agree that a human with a latent talent ought to be changed.

"So Aro does know about the girl?"

"Only that she exists," Demetri said cautiously. "We realized that her being with her mother, while talking about her father's friends, likely meant that her parents were divorced and she lived with her father, only spending summers with her mother. So I was going to find her next summer, just before she turned eighteen, and change her. I'm going to assume that you know she's a shield because she blocks you as well?"

Edward nodded slowly. "She's also my singer."

Demetri's jaw dropped. "And you didn't devour her?"

He described how upon their first meeting, he read Charlie's thoughts only and so assumed his singer was the Chief of police. So he stopped breathing the second he sniffed the smell. "It was only after they opened the door that I realized there were two people there, since I couldn't read her mind at all."

"It's a good thing you have tested your control before," Demetri said. "I can't believe it, honestly."

"Oh, she's my singer all right," he said harshly. "I've managed to build up an immunity to her I think. Hm." He wondered how much to tell Demetri. "Jasper has met his mate here, as well. Her name is Alice."

He barked a laugh at that news. "Jasper's shacked up? I wondered where he was."

"Oh don't worry," said Edward dryly, "he's still planning on helping me rip your arm off."

Demetri bristled. "I never kept it from Aro, I don't need to tell you two everything that happens, _durak eblan_," he muttered in Russian.

"It was rather a shock talking to her and hearing her say that _Demetri_ told her she was a shield, that's all."

"Oh, next time I'll use an alias," he hissed.

Edward gave him a look. "I think you're really going to enjoy our hunting expeditions here," he said, thinking to himself that one's temper really did ease off after the switch.

_Subject change. All right._ "Aside from the eating part, right?"

"Well, animal blood isn't anything close to human of course, but the large carnivores come close. I'm a fan of mountain lion, myself."

"It really is strange seeing all you golden-eyed vampires," said Demetri.

"You get used to it. You get used to anything."

He shrugged. _Glad I ate before coming here._ "I probably won't need to feed for a couple of weeks though."

"Right, right. You know I did used to eat animals before we met."

"I can't imagine Jasper has adjusted as easily as you have," he said, curious.

Edward shook his head. "Not at all," he admitted. "He's had a few slips, not nearby, but still. At least he's kept to our agreement."

"Still trying to be, ah, Batman, eh?" Demetri laughed, picturing Edward in a costume from last summer's blockbuster.

"He agrees with me on the value of human life," Edward said coldly. "Perhaps you should have a conversation with Carlisle."

"When I need a good laugh, I'll do that," he agreed with a grin.

"Stop being such a bastard."

"I'm not being a bastard. You're the one stalking your singer. I mean, that is what you meant by building up an immunity, right? Unless you meant actually hanging out with her."

"I've spoken to her a couple of times," he admitted. "I um." He sighed. There was really no way to avoid it. He was going to have a date with her, after all. Demetri was going to figure it out sooner or later anyway. "I'm kind of sort of in love with her," he whispered.

"Are you trying to tell me that the girl who blocks you and is your singer, is also your mate? That's a rather elaborate setup for a joke, Edward," he admonished him, not believing a word anymore.

"I'm deadly serious here."

Demetri pursed his lips. "You haven't told Aro this, I'm guessing?"

"No, she knows about us and the wolves, he'd want her turned immediately."

"If she's your mate, why don't you want her turned?" asked Demetri.

"Because I don't think anyone should have that done to them who has a human life to live. If she wants to be changed, we'll take care of it, but right now, I don't see a problem with your plan. At least letting her finish high school as a human."

Demetri frowned. "This is part of that whole 'human life has value' thing, I assume?"

He scowled back. "Yes! If she doesn't feel the advantages of vampirism outweigh her humanity, I won't press her."

"I think Aro would back you, but only if he got something out of it," Demetri said slowly. "I mean, he would want her turned at some point, or if she was in danger of dying, but he likes you, you know."

It wasn't discussed very much, but Aro, being from Imperial Rome, saw both sexes as an option. Most vampires, like most humans, were heterosexual, and most European vampires raised Christian still thought him a pervert. No one would ever say anything against Aro, but it was true that vampires were almost entirely better looking than humans. He did have a wife, but Aro had no problems sleeping with anyone who caught his eye. If, after the first touch, he saw that they weren't one-hundred-percent opposed, he would offer a liason. Most agreed, for his favor, but he never minded refusals. Despite turning him down, Edward was his favorite partly because he found Edward attractive, but also because he found his talent so useful.

Edward also knew that he had found Carlisle beautiful, but because of his history never made a pass at him, simply enjoying his company. He didn't really have any early-twentieth-century opinions on the matter, but it certainly wasn't _his_ cup of tea. Although he had definitely suffered rumors, due to never ever being seen to take any lovers at all. He didn't care what people thought of him, though. Now, he was quite glad he waited.

"Jasper and I are going to stay here. I'm going to follow her to whatever college she goes to, unless of course she does decide to be turned before that," Edward told him.

"I see. You know, I never did find out her name."

Edward shrugged. "Isabella Swan. She goes by Bella."

"And may I meet this girl again?"

"I don't think that's appropriate."

"I know what she smells like," he snapped. "I'm not going to eat her."

"Well, we'll see. I don't even know if she likes me that much yet. Our first date is Saturday."

Demetri laughed long and hard.


	33. Chapter 32

_**Sorry for the delay, I spend most of my summer outdoors, and well, watching The Avengers.**_

_**Recap: Demetri has just arrived, Edward explained that Bella was his singer, a shield, and his mate. Demetri found all of this very amusing.**_

Edward would have knocked Demetri over after ten minutes of his laughter, but he heard Jasper's thoughts. _Hankerin' for an ass-whuppin', Demetri boy?_

So he simply smiled a tight little smile and pinched the top of his nose, since that gesture only made Demetri laugh harder. It was becoming very hard to not betray Jasper, but he knew if he could keep his poker face, it would be worth it.

Not five minutes later he and Jasper were sitting on the couch grinning ear to ear while Demetri howled "That was my arm!" Edward didn't normally find violence amusing, but he couldn't help feeling a deep sense of satisfaction watching Demetri spit venom onto his stump as he tried to reattach the arm Jasper ripped off.

"Thank you, dear one," he said in imitation of Aro. He and Jasper burst into what could only be called giggles.

"Anytime, Eddie."

Edward was still laughing, so he just barely managed to choke out, "Don't call me that!"

Demetri had finally gotten his arm back on. "As I was telling Edward," he said in a sneer, "Aro knows all about the girl, as you would have known if you had thought for two minutes."

Jasper cocked an eyebrow. "Are you implying that I have a problem with not thinking things through?" he asked in a rather threatening tone.

Demetri swallowed. "I just meant, there was no need for this extreme violence."

"Just 'cause Aro let you off easy doesn't mean I have to. Why the hell do we have laws, if anyone Aro likes can get away with breaking them?"

Demetri frowned, pursed his lips, and looked at Edward. _Is he really asking this question?_

Edward sighed and decided to change the subject. "I also mentioned you met a girl." He briefly wished Jasper could read his thoughts, as Jasper's were of fear that Edward revealed her talent. They were used to this, however, and Edward looked quickly left then right till he felt Jasper calm down.

"Yes, do I get to meet this one?"

Jasper stared at Demetri. Implicit in his statement was the fact that Edward was keeping Demetri away from Bella, since she was human, and he never drank anything else. Was he implying that he would also be a threat to Alice? Once again, Edward darted his eyes side to side, since he could read nothing in Demetri but a sincere wish to meet the woman of Jasper's dreams. Finally Jasper said, "If she wants. Her makers were beasts, though. She's a little skittish about meeting new people."

This was an outright lie - Alice was socially awkward, true, but thanks to her abilities she was the opposite of skittish. Well, perhaps stoic was a better word. She did fear the Volturi, but only because she knew they would treat her nearly the way James had. Edward couldn't argue with her on that point, after all. Only people like Jasper thought the Volturi a pure force for good. Edward knew better, but it wasn't his ambition to change them. If it was, Aro would never have let him have free reign.

"I'm very intrigued that Jasper Whitlock has finally met his match," Demetri said with a grin. "Sounds like you two have quite a bit in common, as well."

It was only a moment of deep sorrow that enveloped the room before Jasper regained control, thought of Alice, and happiness filled everyone again, but it was enough to remind that Demetri clearly was not going to be nice to Jasper for a while.

"Enough of this," snapped Edward. "Demetri, Jasper and I are going to finish this mission here, then leave the Guard."

Demetri's jaw dropped. "What?"

"There are stronger ties that bind us now, despite Chelsea's mechinations," Edward said.

_Oh, right, you know about that. _"You are telling me this? And now I have to go tell Aro?"

"That's it," Edward replied.

Demetri groaned. "Why couldn't you have just ripped off my other arm?"

"Demetri, you don't have to go now. We do have this whole wolf thing to deal with."

"Right, right. Look, I'm not stupid, obviously you don't want Aro knowing that the shield girl lives here, right, so you'll want to put off informing him as long as possible, right?"

Edward sighed. He hated the way Demetri overused the word "right" when he spoke English. "Correct."

"So since you told me everything, I have to stay here until the outpost is set up fully to Aro's satisfaction, right?"

Jasper nodded. "At the moment he's fine with the wolves staying where they are, since it ain't like they're Children of the Moon or something."

"All right, right. So mainly we just have to stay out of their territory, and not eat people around here?"

"The actual wording of the treaty is that we can't bite a human," Edward informed him icily, not sparing Jasper in his glares.

Demetri chuckled. "So it's already been broken, then."

Jasper tilted his head. "You told him. You told Demetri."

"Jasper, this is difficult enough without lying," he growled.

"You boys know I'm hardly one to judge! But I suppose you're going to force me to that repulsive diet of Carlisle's, is that what this is about?"

"Unless you have some talent for ferreting out evil-doers you managed to keep secret all these years," said Edward dryly.

"Wait - are you saying that Jasper's slips were still on - on those types?"

"Of course they were," Jasper snarled. "I keep my word."

Jasper and Edward had sworn to each other to only drink the blood of "monsters" as part of the ceremony when they joined the guard, in front of Aro and everyone. And it was a fact, neither of them had broken that bond. The rest of the guard saw them as eccentric as best, abominations at worst. But since Edward had Aro's favor, and Jasper was Edward's best friend, everyone kept fairly quiet about it.

Demetri wasn't as bad as some - he did think it a waste of time, but he understood that part of being a vampire was filling up the endless hours.

"Well, I suppose I'll give it a go when I'm hungry enough," he finally said.


	34. Chapter 33

_**warning: we're going to talk a little about Rosalie's origins, though not graphically.**_

_**Chapter 33**_

Jasper and Demetri were still not feeling terribly friendly toward each other, so Edward decided to intervene. "Why don't you go see if Alice is at all interested in being social, and I'll give Demetri the background on the rest of the Cullens?"

"Yeah, sounds good." Once again the room was suffused with emotional warmth. "See you boys later," said Jasper before turning on his heels and running off nearly as fast as Edward could.

I really hope I don't act that way when I meet her. "Yes, so, who are the others?"

"Rosalie and Emmett." He began the story with moving to Rochester with Carlisle and Esme, and described how he and Carlisle had been at odds, before the night that Carlisle found Rosalie Hale dying on the street.

"Wait, I don't understand," Demetri interrupted. He picked a photo up off the mantlepiece of the four Cullens. "This is Rosalie? Why on earth was she dying on the street?"

Edward frowned. "Her fiancé and his friends were drunk one night, and they beat and raped her."

Demetri winced and shuddered. "Did you take care of them, at least?"

"Actually, Rosalie did."

"Wait, I don't understand," he said again. "Didn't Carlisle say she had never tasted human blood?"

"It's true, she didn't drink them," Edward explained. "Her last human memories were of them brutally violating her, so she didn't want any part of them in her again."

"That makes sense. But I'm amazed a newborn had such self-control!"

"Rosalie can be impressive," he admitted. "She's not at all understanding about those of us who choose to indulge, though."

"Oh, wonderful."

Edward continued with the story of Emmett. Despite not having been there, he knew it well enough after all those nights spent in Emmett's company. But once again, Demetri was impressed with Rosalie's self-control.

"She managed to bring him to Carlisle while he was covered in his own blood!" he said in wonder.

Edward conceded this was impressive, although privately he wondered which was more difficult a task for her.

"What about Esme?"

"Well, she and Carlisle first met when he was a doctor in Ohio..."

"Are you serious?" Demetri was shocked anew.

Edward was more surprised about this part of the story now than he had been upon his initial discovery. Even though he could read Carlisle's mind, he couldn't really feel what Carlisle was feeling, and as a newborn, didn't care for anything to take attention away from himself. But now, having met Bella Swan, and remembering his joy at discovering she wasn't interested in the werewolf... "I am serious, but I don't really understand either. She was only sixteen, but he never even tried to talk to her again." He continued the actual story of her breaking her leg, and finished it by saying, "And after she fully healed, he came to Chicago."

That part he did sympathize with. If Bella hadn't known anything about vampires - if she wasn't so close to a werewolf enclave - could he really show her all this? Edward enjoyed a lot of human culture, but he knew that he was playing a role merely to benefit himself and the Volturi. He couldn't have reconciled what he did otherwise. True, there was probably a benefit for humanity in what he did - in fact that was the impetus for his behavior - but if he'd become a cop or lawyer - or even imitated Batman more precisely - it would have the same effect on humanity. But then he wouldn't get to eat them.

Explaining all of this was going to be a huge headache, so he was somewhat relieved now that Alice had. And more to the point, that he hadn't even eaten anyone since arriving in Forks.

"Why didn't he just take her away? If I met a human girl like that, I mean, my mate, I would have just turned her."

"Really? You would have just kidnapped her from under her family?"

Demetri frowned. "Why not? She would have been happy when she finished turning and saw her mate. What's the alternative? Dating a human?" He laughed at this, thinking what a fool Edward was.

"You do realize that it wouldn't have just been Esme's wrath he'd fear, but her family's? And the entire community?"

"But he was going to run away anyway, why not take her with him?"

"As difficult it is for you to grasp, Demetri, humans are autonomous beings," he said dryly. "Weren't you angry when you first woke up as a vampire?"

"Not really, because I thought I was going to be shot," he reminded Edward. Demetri had been turned only a few years before Edward - Felix had been taking advantage of the general unrest in early 20th century Russia. It had almost been an accident, but having fed on so many others that day in Kishinev, he decided not to drain Demetri completely, and took him back to Italy. Like most vampires, he remembered the experience itself of the turning, but not the events immediately prior until Felix explained.

"I was angry," Edward recalled. "I would have preferred to have died with my parents."

"You died from the flu, not an angry mob," Demetri pointed out.

"Well, Esme was still angry when she was turned. She was trying to kill herself, but she was just barely alive when they brought her to the morgue. Carlisle recognized her and stole her away. Three days later, we had an amazingly emotionally unstable newborn in the house."

Demetri nodded. "If I was trying to end my existence, and I was prevented, I would certainly be annoyed. Add in to that a typical newborn mindset?" He pursed his lips. "How did you and Carlisle manage her?"

"We didn't really 'manage' her," Edward said. "Carlisle told her about how he tried to kill himself when he first turned, and I told her what I just said, about being angry that I wasn't dead."

"Wait, wait, wait." Once again Demetri was astonished. "Carlisle tried to kill himself?"

"He had known vampires existed before he turned. Let us simply say that he and his father were not fans."

_Of course no human would ever be so foolish as to admire its own predator._ "But his maker didn't explain things to him?"

"No, it took ages before he found others that weren't simply feral. He thought he could starve himself to death, but of course, he became so hungry he more or less unconsciously attacked and drank the blood of a herd of deer."

"I don't know what's funnier - Carlisle trying fifty different ways to kill himself, or Carlisle being so stupid he didn't just try fire."

"You know perfectly well that fire only works if you cut up the pieces first."

"It also works if it's hot enough," he pointed out. "You couldn't survive being hurled into the sun, you know."

"True, but this was the 1600's, no one even had kerosene back then."

"No one in Western Europe, that's true," he smirked.

"But, yes, Carlisle failed to kill himself by all the standard ways humans try, aside from self-immolation after cutting himself up. One could argue that he didn't true want to die because of this, I'll admit. He simply would have done anything rather than kill another human."

"So he ate deer because he was starving? That makes so much more sense than what Aro said."

"What did Aro say?"

"That Carlisle realized he ate venison as a man, so he thought drinking their blood would be - uh, without sin?"

"An act of grace, you mean? Is that what Aro said?"

"Yes! Exactly."

Edward frowned. "I suppose that's relatively close to the truth, but he didn't realize it till after he actually did it, and he only did it, as I said, without consciously acting."

Demetri snorted._ And that was the last time Carlisle acted on instinct._


	35. Chapter 34

_So sorry for the delay. I'm also going to go through and redo the old chapters, just for stylistic reasons._

_I had some health issues that took a couple of months, then writer's block._

_Quick recap: Edward and Jasper, Volturi agents, are in Forks and trying to figure out how to deal with the wolves. Bella is "just friends" with Jacob and intrigued by Edward, despite knowing he's a vampire who really wants to drink her dry. They're going on a date on Saturday, and today is Friday._

_Demetri, who met Bella and Renee a few years ago in Europe, has arrived in Seattle and driven to Forks. He's currently hangin' out with the Cullens. Edward was telling Demetri about the "origins" of all the others, except for Alice - who is rather different in this story than in canon._

**Chapter 34**

"All right, and I know where you and Jasper came from. How about his ladyfriend?" asked Demetri.

As if on cue, Alice and Jasper walked in to the living room where Edward and Demetri were chatting.

"Oh, my story is quite nice," said Alice in a low tone. "Even better than yours. I was committed to an institution in 1915 or so, and my sire found me there. He and his mate took me in and used me and my ability for their own pleasure. So I killed them as soon as I got my hands on a flame thrower."

Demetri blinked. "That - that is - quite, um, nice. May I ask what power this is?"

"I'd tell you, but I'd have to kill you," she said in a very calm tone.

Demetri was terrified. He knew that Jasper and Edward together could take him, and even Jasper alone would be a frightening prospect. But three on one? With a woman who had no issues telling him that she'd burned her creator (and his mate) to death?

"It's all right, Demetri," said Edward. "We can't tell you in case it gets back to Aro. She doesn't want to join up right now. She won't do anything unless there's a chance of that."

"I see," said Demetri, feeling not very relieved. "Once he sees this conversation in my head, he'll want to know quite a bit, of course."

"Of course. And if Jasper and I see him, he'll know anyway."

"We're just trying to put it off," said Jasper, embracing Alice and kissing her forehead.

Alice giggled. "I think Demetri is going to be assigned to stay here for a while, but till that happens, you'll have to stay in the dark."

"I understand," he answered. "On a lighter note, Edward, would you mind taking me on a tour of the area here? The clouds seem to be thick enough for that sort of thing, yes?"

Edward nodded. "Of course we'll have to go human speeds at this time of day." He picked up his jacket - more camouflage. "Jasper, Alice, interested in a drive?"

Alice shook her head. "I'm taking Bella out later. With Jasper's car."

"Ah yes. The one I'm not allowed to drive."

"You can drive my car if I can drive yours," Jasper shot back.

Demetri rolled his eyes. _They really do act like brothers._

"Shall we?" Edward asked Demetri, and he nodded.

Despite the fact that Edward drove under the speed limit, the tour was rather quick. Forks was a rather tiny town. "What about the beaches?"

"They're mostly on tribal land," said Edward.

"Ah yes. And where is that?"

"This way." Edward drove to the boundary point, and pointed. "Starts here."

"What happens if I do - this?" asked Demetri, and jumped over the imaginary line Edward had pointed to.

"Then Jasper gets to smack you later," he replied dryly.

And then a truck a decade younger then Bella's came careening from the Quileuete side, and nearly hit Edward's car. They ran out of the way easily enough, but the truck had stopped and backed up behind the car. Sam Uley, Jared Cameron, and Leah Clearwater got out of the truck.

"New game in town?" asked Sam in a cool voice.

"Didn't Carlisle call you?"

Leah sighed. "Of course he did, why do you think we're here? We were going to meet at your house, but this seems fine for now, right? This is the new bloodsucker, I assume."

"I was under the impression that the entire pack would need to meet him?" asked Edward. If the whole pack wasn't going to meet Demetri, then there was little to no point of him being here in Forks.

"I'm the Alpha, these two are directly under me," Sam said. "We speak for the rest, and the rest had no desire to meet a vampire."

Leah stared at Edward. _This one is the mindreader?_ At his nod, she thought, _I didn't want to meet any leeches either_, then stared at the horizon behind the truck, ignoring everything else.

Jared snorted. "Paul is so not ready to meet a vamp without wolfing out, Leah, and you know it."

Leah still ignored him; Edward tried not to laugh and introduced Demetri to the wolves. "Demetri met Bella about five years ago, when she was vacationing in Europe."

That caught Leah's attention. "Wait, this is the leech that perved out on Bella?"

"I did nothing of the sort, but, yes, that's me."

"Bella told you?"

Leah shook her head. "Becky and Rachel. I'm not one of those dumbasses who thinks the Swans are the greatest thing on toast. That's the Black family, not me."

Edward could see Leah was being quite honest. She saw Charlie and Bella as outsiders who had no right to be even surrogate family, despite Charlie and Billy being in the army together. They were still _White_, not _People_.

"Right. Well, do I need to sign a treaty, or...?"

Sam nodded. "We scanned in the old version and printed it out at the library, so, here." He pulled out a folded piece of paper and smoothed it out on the hood of his trunk. "No need to sign in blood."

Edward coughed to avoid a laugh; Demetri thought Sam was making a joke, but the fact was that the original treaty was in fact signed in the blood of the elders. Since vampires didn't really bleed, Carlisle had opted for a pen. Venom would have eaten the parchment through.

As Demetri read through the treaty, Sam looked at Edward sideways. _What are you doing here? Your golden eyes are a lie._

"I never said I was another Carlisle," he said softly. "I figured this part of the country would be a good place to settle in because of the cloudiness, I didn't even know Carlisle was here at first. We're probably going to mostly stay around Seattle anyway."

Jared chuckled. _Big vamps for the big city. Good riddance then. _

"We do the same thing you do, protect people. Jasper and I hunt murderers and rapists, we've never killed anyone else since we joined the Volturi. Do you really think that's so bad?"

"Murder is murder," Sam said. "Can't you just turn these people over to the police?"

"We do, sometimes," Edward replied. "But if we catch someone about to - about to commit a terrible crime, I don't think involving the police is the best idea. I mean, stopping someone from killing means they don't kill, so they don't get punished for it."

The three Quileutes stared at him, horrified. They were imagining the same thing as Edward described - a man in an alley about to knife someone for his wallet, and then Edward coming upon him and brutally savaging the man. But they thought of it as something horrific rather than justice.

"And this is what you're going to do in Seattle?" asked Leah, in a timid voice.

Edward shook his head. "We're sticking to the treaty as long as we're staying in Washington. No biting humans." He thought wistfully of Bella, but she was too young anyway, he knew. For once he was glad no one else could read his mind - normally he thought it would be more convenient, but right now, the humans thought of him as a monster. Well, they probably did as a matter of course, since he was a vampire, after all, but after telling them about his hunting, they were even less disposed to being sympathetic than usual. So they'd probably try to kill him if they knew he was going to take Bella on a date the next evening.

That was no exaggeration. They weren't fooled by the pretty faces and sparkly skin; even just being this close to each other made the wolves on edge. They were quite offended that other people were taken in so easily by the masquerade. It was a mistake to remind them of how easily he and Jasper could take lives, but it was done.

Demetri had been reading the treaty in his mind, and Edward had ignored this till he finished and signed it. "All right. Is that all?"

"You ought to say it," whispered Edward in a pitch too high for anyone else to hear.

"Ah, yes. I, Demetri of the Volturi, solemnly swear I will not bite any humans while I am in Forks and vicinity."

"Or cross the boundary."

"Or, right, right, I won't cross the boundary. I swear it."

Sam nodded. "Now go back to the Cullens."

The vampires hopped in the car and sped back home.

As soon as Edward figured they weren't following them, he spoke up. "That was so close to being a disaster."

"Was it? I thought it went rather well. Not that I know anything about werewolves, but -"

"They aren't really werewolves. The spirit animal they shift to could have been a bear. Or a lizard."

"That would have been interesting," mused Demetri, thinking of lizard people ruling the world, and chuckling.

"At any rate, they hate us and will take any excuse to kill us."

"What if we do just end up in Seattle? Won't they be satisfied then?" Demetri certainly would prefer to be in Seattle.

"I think I've scared them into thinking about us actually eating people, and they don't want to let us go to do that."

Demetri moaned. "Great, I have to eat animals till I go back to Italy. Wonderful. Just wonderful."


	36. Chapter 35

_**Chapter 35**_

Edward drove south till he was definitely out of range for reading the werewolves' minds, and then said to Demetri, "If you eat an animal or two after a human, your eyes turn gold again."

Demetri turned towards Edward in shock. _Is that how Jasper hid his slips?_

"That, and he was careful not to think about it."

Demetri was trying not to laugh. Not that he thought it was funny at all, but it _was_ amusing that Jasper could hide his thoughts from Edward in a way that no one else in the Volturi could. So while it was true that no one knew Jasper better than Edward, Edward was able to find more out about anyone aside from Jasper himself.

"Yes, it's very ironic," Edward droned. "And his new mate is another factor."

Demetri nodded. Alice Brandon frightened him. He himself had killed vampires, of course, but that was in the line of duty. Past behavior indicated future behavior, and if Alice killed vampires who "used her" - well, it probably was better if Jasper quit the guard.

"We're at best just staying at the Seattle outpost for good, but we both are committed to taking out these wolves before considering anything of that nature," he assured Demetri.

"Hold on. We both just signed a treaty saying that we were going to stay out of the tribal lands, and not bite humans, right?"

Edward rolled his eyes. "Caius still wants them destroyed, but Aro wants us to wait till they break the treaty."

"And you actually think they'll break the treaty first? Wait, what am I saying, you read their thoughts, of course you do."

"They can barely even control their phasing. The ones we met are the oldest and most in control - Sam's been a werewolf ever since the Cullens moved here, actually. He didn't really believe in the legends and went to see Carlisle, just as a doctor visit for poison ivy. And that very night he phased for the first time. After that, the entire tribe was forbidden to even go to the hospital in Forks, just in case he would be attending."

Demetri stared at Edward. "That seems a bit extreme."

"Well, they loosened up after a while, as long as Carlisle absolutely doesn't come into contact with any of them, they'll go if they need to. But Sam was the only one till just before we got here. Apparently Sam was hunting a vampire, and Paul and Jared ended up phasing because it came too close. Then Leah followed them - she didn't do anything while they killed it, but that was enough to get her to change too."

Demetri was confused. Did the Quileuetes want their children to phase or not?

"If the Cullens had been the only ones around, then no. They did trust them not to kill. But they attracted a nomad. They never did meet him, but they knew he was around. And it wasn't long before the wolves killed him, so they don't even know his name."

_And I bet it was Edward and Jasper who accidentally activated even more wolves._

"Yes," he sighed. "It's all our fault. The longer we stay around here, the more wolves we activate."

"Then why the hell do you want to stay at all? Is Jasper's mate that attached to this area?"

"She's that attached to being part of Carlisle's ... family," he said.

_And your mate is still human. Ridiculous._

"I'm not going to destroy an innocent life," Edward snarled. He had to let go of the gear shift before he squeezed it into oblivion.

"I'm sorry," Demetri said out loud. "I don't mean to say you don't know best when it comes to your mate. Just that, if I met someone, and she was human and of age, I'd not want her out of my sight at all."

"I'm not as selfish as you," he snapped. Being away from Jasper was a lot more difficult than he remembered. "Sorry. I'm used to Jasper keeping everyone relatively calm."

"Don't apologize. There's no one right way to act when it comes to the love of your life, right? There's only what works for you."

He counted to ten as slowly as he could, then replied, "You are correct. Let us stop discussing this part. I'm keeping her human till she wants different, she can make whatever choice she wants to. It's all up to her, not me. I'm not going to do anything to an innocent," he repeated.

"All right, we won't discuss her anymore. Tell me how the Cullens met the wolves in the first place."

"Emmett was chasing a bear through their territory, and they attacked him and Rosalie. They were quite surprised to see wolves the size of bears, and even more surprised that the wolves could harm them. Esme and Carlisle were able to convince them that they only wanted to hunt animals, and so they made the treaty."

"Emmett and Rosalie were wounded, but still able to fight back?"

Edward nodded. "There were only three wolves in that pack, so four Cullens were able to take them down without too much effort. But Carlisle didn't attack Ephraim Black, just had Esme hold the back paws down while he held the front paws. That act of mercy convinced him, and he was the chief, so..."

Demetri had been going over the battle in his head, but suddenly looked up and saw the ocean as they whizzed by. _Where are we?_

"I just kept taking 101 south, I didn't want anyone to hear this discussion," he said.

"Smart boy. But now we don't have one vampire to one wolf, do we?"

"Not if the Cullens don't fight with us," he agreed. "There are seven as of now."

"But now I can find at least those wolves we met. And that one is their leader, Sam Uley, correct?"

"That's right. But again, we're going to let them break the treaty first. We're going to try to get the younger wolves angry. The older ones were barely able to hold themselves down in the first place, and then Jacob Black totally hates me, too."

"I assume that's one of the wolves I didn't meet?"

He nodded. "He, uh, sort of had a crush on Bella for a while. I'm pretty sure he's moved on now, but uh, he knew about my feelings too."

"And how the hell could he possibly know that? How obvious were you?"

Edward winced. "We were both pretty obvious, actually. We, uh, took turns, uh, watching her."

Demetri stared at Edward. He wasn't stupid. _You took turns with a werewolf stalking a human._

"Uh, yes, I suppose it could look that way from one angle," he admitted, trying not to cringe. "But we both told her about it!"

"And she was thrilled, right?"

"I think she tried to kick Black in the balls when he told her."

Demetri chuckled. "What did she do to you?"

"Yelled at me, then made me to promise to stop it."

_Did he actually stop?_

"Of course I stopped!" he yelped. "I wouldn't break a promise to Bella!"

"Right, right, of course you did, right." _Edward usually doesn't stop stalking people till he kills them._

"This is different, you know that. She's a singer, I had to try something, anything, to get used to her scent!"

"Edward, are you telling me you didn't realize she was your mate at first, and nearly killed her?"

"Well, of course. How many vampires do you know that avoided eating their singers?"

None. Well, one, apparently.

"I simply had practiced deliberate feeding for so long that I was able to avoid it the first time. And then I worried about it, so I decided habituation was the way to go."

"In other words, stalking."

"How else should I have done it, Demetri? Can you think of another way?"

_Carlisle could have given you a blood sample._

"OK, that's not a bad idea," Edward said after a minute of silence. "I suppose if she wasn't actually my mate, I would have thought of that before the uh, whole stalking thing got out of hand."

"All's well that ends well," laughed Demetri. "But so, Jacob Black has stopped pressing his suit?"

"Correct, they've agreed to just be friends. But he's definitely opposed to me being in her life, and so he might be the best way to get the treaty broken."

Demetri nodded, then said, "We should go back to the Cullens for now. Jasper ought to be included in this part."

Edward slowed the car down, made sure no one was coming, then made a squealing U-turn to head north again.


	37. Chapter 36

_**Chapter 36**_

Edward connected his iPhone to the car's speakers and called up Jasper. Normally this went to voicemail, since he'd met Alice, at least, so he was rather surprised when Jasper answered "Hey there Edward!"

"Hello Jasper. Are you alone?"

"Yep. Driving to the ferry from Anacortes."

"You got a car?" Edward was intrigued. Jasper had bought about two cars a year until 1973, but realized this was silly, and sold them in the '80s when they were mostly bumming around Europe and Asia. Edward was pretty sure Jasper sold them to other car nuts, and then kept track of the sixty vehicles or so to make sure they wouldn't get scrapped. "One of your old ones?"

"Actually this one is better than the old one I had!" he yelled. "Alice told me to go to this dealership in Anacortes, wouldn't tell me why, just that I'd be glad if I did. It's a '69 Stingray hard top! In black!"

"Wonderful," said Edward wistfully, although he preferred European styling of that era. He still had, somewhere, the Peugeot 403 he'd bought after _Columbo_ became popular. "So where is Alice then?"

"Oh, she and Esme are shopping. Esme's invited her to move in, since she was just crashing with me, and a lady tends to need her own space, right? I'll probably move in too, but I didn't want to impose yet."

"Well, then, Demetri and I will meet you at our place for a debriefing."

"Oh, I was just gonna go to the Cullens'. She wants us to pick Bella up from school to go shopping, which means I get to drive her truck home." Edward could just hear the glee in his voice. They'd repaired the engine, but of course Jasper hadn't really had an opportunity to experience it. Edward thought the notion of driving that truck to be overrated, even if they'd been there when it first rolled off the lot. (And they'd been in Australia.)

"If no one's currently at the Cullens' place, that's fine."

"Yes indeedy. Hey I'm at the ferry, so I'll see you guys there, ok?" They heard the noise of a car turning off.

"Sure thing." After hanging up, Edward glanced at Demetri before looking at the road again. "The ferry will be the only bottleneck, but I think I should tell you what Jasper is going to want."

"You know what he's going to want?"

"Well, he's not going to want the chance of any more wolves activating, so we need to stay as far from the borders as possible."

Demetri nodded. "And if an adolescent happens to be in Forks when one of us is in Forks, then activates shortly afterward, there's nothing we can do to help that."

"Unless you're the one to meet him. At least then we can track him."

"I meant, what if one of them comes to the supermarket when Esme is there, or something like that?"

"The odds of that are slim. Since they are teenagers, after all."

"Right, right. Well, there's some older ones that could still activate, aren't there?"

"If I hear more wolves are activating than we can handle, I'll just request Jane and Alec," he said, exasperated.

"Aro normally won't let them go together," pointed out Demetri.

"Then Aro can come too. And Caius. And all the rest of the Volturi guard. But I think we can solve this on our own."

Demetri chuckled. "It would be nice if we could just get all the guard here to kill the wolves."

"They aren't just wolves, you know. They're human beings who happen to be able to shift forms. I would honestly prefer if Aro and Caius just let us leave them alone, as they're completely satisfied to be humans that don't shift forms when no vampires are around."

"But Jasper disagrees."

Edward nodded, sighing. "Jasper is far more of a warrior than I am. Always was. Maria brought him past his comfort zone, so he doesn't like to believe it's his true nature - but even before Alice got here, he's been happier planning things here than I've seen him in ages."

They pulled in to the Cullens' driveway and settled in. "So you've spent the most time with this Jacob Black, although you haven't seen him since you two agreed to stop stalking Bella, which was, what, two days ago?"

"Five days!" he said, pretending to be offended.

"Oh, I do beg your pardon."

"That's all right. I also spied on them when they tried to kiss, although that was more like a mile away."

"I didn't know vampires could hear noises a mile away."

Edward laughed. "I meant I listened to Black's thoughts. He found that it was more like kissing one of his sisters than a romantic interest, and the next day she accepted my proposal of dinner together."

"With her as the main course?"

"Don't be vulgar," Edward snapped. "I'm taking her to an Italian restaurant in Port Angeles."

"Oh, so she's dessert then? Sorry, sorry, I'll stop now." _Dating a human! So odd!_

"These are the things you have to do, if you aren't kidnapping your mate, or meeting them when they're already on the verge of death."

"Who meets - oh, you meant Carlisle."

"And Rosalie, actually."

"Right, right, her Emmett was nearly dead as well. And covered with blood, and her just barely not a newborn!" Is it something about Carlisle's venom that makes his creations almost as masochistic as he is?

"Do you really think having self-control is masochistic?" It was a point of view that many of the Volturi shared, although normally it was confined to thoughts such as "What eccentrics those boys are" rather than "What masochists those boys are."

"Not that you would know, but I think Jasper would agree that drinking human blood is better than sex."

"Granted, I've never had sex myself personally, but I have had the, um, opportunity to read minds during others' encounters..." He stopped suddenly. It wasn't really something he'd ever thought to compare. Sex was sex, he didn't spy on people if he could help it, of course, but sometimes he had no other choice. And that went for humans as well as vampires, and vampires definitely had better sex than humans. How could they not, with all the enhanced senses and sensations that went along with it? But it was true that reading someone's mind during sex wasn't exactly the same as being the person having sex. He couldn't feel all the emotions that went along with it: for example, mated vampire sex was supposed to be superior to non-mated vampire sex, but he couldn't tell why. He knew it was because of the emotions, but he didn't read emotions, just thoughts.

Still, it did seem that mated vampire sex would beat out drinking human blood, although he'd have to ask Jasper since meeting Alice. He pointed this out to Demetri.

"Oh, good point. Maybe I'll ask Emmett what he thinks."

"Emmett's only drank from singers," he reminded Demetri. "I don't think that's relevant."

"But you do think there's a case for the argument to be made, correct?"

"Even if drinking human blood was better than sex, that doesn't mean that Carlisle and the rest are masochists," he argued.

"No, you're quite right there. They're masochists because they hang around humans and never ever give in. I mean, how long have you been able to go without eating before you came out here?"

"I've gone two months before, but that was hunting someone. I don't think I could have gone that long if I hadn't had a specific prey in mind," he admitted.

Demetri was clearly shocked. "Two months! That's ridiculous."

"I know. My average was more like about three weeks."

"That sounds about reasonable," he agreed. "But isn't it harder to go longer in a city compared to sparse populations?"

"Do you think Forks isn't a sparse population?"

"Not sparse enough," he said seriously. "The Olympics are more like a sparse population."

"No one lives there but campers," he pointed out.

"Right."

Edward sighed. "So you're saying that since the Cullens hang out in a city around humans, they get thirsty, and then feed on animals, so the thirst isn't ever fully quenched the way it is after you feed on humans. So this makes them masochists."

"Right. Do you not agree at all?"

"I think you may change your mind after a few weeks of mountain lion," he said shortly. He could hear Jasper's thoughts before he heard the car, but not long before, since he was driving fairly fast.

"Well, Jasper's here, so we may as well table this argument."

Jasper was still grinning about the car as he cartwheeled into the house. "Hey guys! Go check her out!"

The other two obeyed, although Demetri had almost no interest in cars except aesthetically. But Jasper's joy had, as it did, infected them enough to be happy enough to go look at the car.

"I'm going to pretend I've said all the usual car things you're supposed to say, and gotten back to business before the others return," said Demetri after a minute.

The mood shifted. "What's your current assessment?"

Edward explained about the treaty meeting, and then Demetri added, "It seems the best way to get them to break the treaty would be to annoy the younger ones, especially the ones who are apparently friends with Bella Swan?"

Jasper nodded. "Yep. And you, Demetri, get to be the bait."


End file.
